Dr. Aditya Kumar joined the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in August 2022. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research interests lie in developing unified mathematical theories and efficient computational tools to tackle fundamental problems in engineering mechanics, material science, and biomechanics.
Dr. Kumar’s current primary research focus is fracture. His overarching goal is to create a unified theory of fracture, from crack nucleation and propagation to healing, across all soft, hard, and heterogeneous materials. Such a theory will not only push the frontiers of mechanics but also inform the discovery and design of resilient materials and structures.
His work has already established a complete and predictive theory of fracture in brittle materials, including glass, ceramics, and elastomers, resolving several long-standing problems that have resisted explanation by traditional models. Ongoing research seeks to extend and unify this framework for more complex materials, including hydrogels, biological tissues, metals, composites, and glacial ice.
Dr. Kumar is also interested in the mechanics and fracture of living materials that adapt through growth, remodeling, and self-healing in response to damage and environmental changes. His group is highly interdisciplinary, contributing theoretical and computational tools that impact both foundational science and engineering practice.
1. Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2020
2. M.S. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2016
3. B.Tech. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi 2014
Dr. Kumar’s teaching interests span theoretical and applied mechanics and numerical methods. He teaches core undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the continuum mechanics of solids. His teaching emphasizes developing a deep conceptual understanding of the mechanical behavior of materials and structures, supported by the use of advanced mathematical frameworks and computational tools.
- Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Award (2024)
- Bill Schutz Junior Faculty Teaching Award, CEE, Georgia Tech (2024)
- USNC/TAM Outreach Fellow (2024)
- Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship, University of Illinois (2020)
- Haythornthwaite Foundation Student Award, ASME (2019)
- Kumar, A., Yavari, A. (2026). Nonlinear mechanics of Arterial Growth. Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 210, 106525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2026.106525
- Khayaz, U., Dahal, A., Kumar, A. (2025). A comparison of phase field models of brittle fracture incorporating strength, I : Mixed-mode loading. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 330, 111679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111679
- Dahal, A., Kumar, A. (2025). On failure mechanisms and load-parallel cracking in confined elastomeric layers. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 80, 102406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eml.2025.102406
- Liu, C., Kumar, A. (2025). Emergence of tension-compression asymmetry from a complete phase-field approach to brittle fracture. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 309, 113170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2024.113170
- Kamarei, F., Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies, O. (2024). The poker-chip experiments of synthetic elastomers. Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 188, 105683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2024.113170
- Kumar, A., Zakoworotny, M.J., Balta, J., Aw, J.E., Tawfick, S.H., Sottos, N.R., Geubelle, P.H. (2024). A thermo-chemo-mechanical model for the material extrusion of frontally polymerizing thermoset polymers. Additive Manufacturing, 103972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.103972
- Kumar, A., Liu, Y., Dolbow, J.E., Lopez-Pamies, O. (2024). The strength of the Brazilian fracture test. Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 182, 105473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105473
- Kumar, A., Yavari, A. (2023). Nonlinear mechanics of remodeling. Journal of Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 181, 105449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2023.105449
- Kumar, A., Dean, L.M., Yourdkhani, M., Guo, A., BenVau, C., Sottos, N.R., Geubelle, P.H. (2022). Surface pattern formation induced by oscillatory loading of frontally polymerized gels. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 168, 105055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2022.105055
- Kumar, A., Ravi-Chandar, K., Lopez-Pamies, O. (2022). The revisited phase-field approach to brittle fracture: application to indentation and notch problems. International Journal of Fracture, 237, 83-100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-022-00653-z
- Kumar, A., Lopez-Pamies O. (2021). The poker-chip experiments of Gent and Lindley (1959) explained. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 150, 104359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2021.104359
- Kumar, A., Bourdin B., Francfort G.A., Lopez-Pamies O. (2020). Revisiting nucleation in the phase-field approach to brittle fracture. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 142, 104027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2020.104027