Professor Ballarini is interested in developing and applying theoretical and experimental techniques that can be used to characterize the response
of materials to mechanical, thermal, and environmental loads. He is particularly interested in formulating analytical and numerical models for
characterizing fatigue and fracture of materials and structures. His multidisciplinary research, which has been funded by the National Science
Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, NASA, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and the State of Ohio, has been applied to problems
arising in civil engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, materials science, electronics, and prosthetic design. He has consulted for
industry and federal agencies, including General Electric and the United States Air Force. Professor Ballarini teaches courses in mechanics,
strength of materials, advanced theory of elasticity, fracture mechanics, and plasticity theory. He is chair-elect of the ASCE Elasticity Committee
and a member of the ASCE Properties of Materials Committee, the American Academy of Mechanics, Tau Beta Pi, Chi Epsilon and Sigma Xi.
Materials Testing Services Visiting Professor of Geomechanics, University of Minnesota Civil Engineering Department, Spring 1995.
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Visiting Professor of Mathematical Physics, Universita di Pisa, Istituto di Scienza delle Costruzioni, Summer 1995.
Visiting Professor, Politecnico di Torino Structural Engineering Department, Summer 1990.
Award from the Hewlett Initiative for Undergraduate Teaching for Senior Faculty, Fall 1993.
Nominated for the Undergraduate Student Government Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, Spring 1993.
Walter P. Murphy Fellowship, Northwestern University, 1980-1982.
General Electric Fellowship, Northwestern University, 1984.
American Academy of Mechanics
Sigma Xi
Tau Beta Pi
Chi Epsilon
R. Kayacan, R. Ballarini and R.L. Mullen, "The Effects of Tooth and Implant Mobility on Occlusal Force Transmission in Tooth/Implant Supported Prostheses," The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Vol. 78, No. 4, pp. 391-399, October 1997.
R.L. Mullen, R. Ballarini and Y.Yin, "Monte-Carlo Simulation of Effective Elastic Constants of Polycrystalline Thin Films," Acta Metallurgica et Materialia, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 2247-2255, 1997.
M. Jha, P.G. Charalambides and R. Ballarini, "Near-Tip Mode-I Elastic Fields in Bimaterial Layered Systems," International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 34, No. 15, pp. 1849-1871, 1997.
D.G. Lewicki and R. Ballarini, "Rim Thickness Effects on Gear Crack Propagation Life," International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 87, pp. 59-86, 1997.
R. Ballarini, R.L. Mullen, Y. Yin, A. Kahn, S. Stemmer and A.H. Heuer, "The Fracture Toughness of Polycrystalline Silicon Microdevices: A First Report," Journal of Materials Research, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 915-922, 1997.
D.G. Lewicki and R. Ballarini, "Effect of Rim Thickness on Gear Crack Propagation Path," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 119, pp. 88-95, 1997.
A. Romeo and R. Ballarini, "A Cohesive Zone Model for Cracks Terminating at a Bimaterial Interface," International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 34, No. 11, pp. 1307-1326, 1997.
L.T. Kuhn, H. Kessler, R. Ballarini, A.H. Heuer and S.M. Spearing, "Fracture Mechanisms of the Strombus Gigas Conch Shell: Implications for the Design of Brittle Laminates," Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 31, pp. 6583-6594, 1996.
H. Kessler, R. Ballarini, R.L. Mullen, L.T. Kuhn and A.H. Heuer, "A Biomimetic Example of Brittle Toughening: (I) Steady State Multiple Cracking," Computational Materials Science, Vol. 5, pp. 157-166, 1996.
A. Romeo and R. Ballarini, "K-Dominance for a Pressurized Griffith Crack," International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 71, No. 1, pp. 95-97, 1995.
