Team Members

My current research activities focus on biomechanical, finite elements and multiphysics analysis, mainly co-simulating refined aortic valve (AV) models within the Living Heart Human Model® (LHHM) in collaboration with the FDA, and using fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling approach for coupled FE structural analysis with Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM).

During the years 2016-2019, Shir conducted her research for her MSc. studies in the lab of mechanics of composite materials, under the supervision of Prof. Haj-Ali. Shir worked as a lab instructor for undergraduate biomedical engineering students, in the lab of fluid properties, and has been working as a Teacher Assistant, in the course of Fluid Mechanics for Biomedical Engineering. From 2019-current, Shir has continued her research for her Ph.D. studies in the lab of mechanics of composite materials, under the supervision of Prof. Haj-Ali.

Royi Padan is a Ph.D. candidate in the mechanical engineering school of Tel-Aviv University. His research proposal relates to the “formulation of a PHFGMC micromechanical model for thermo-mechanical behavior of ceramic matrix composites”. He proposes experimental, analytical, micromechanical, and computational research carried out to model the thermomechanical behavior of ceramic composite materials (CMCs).

Hadas Hochster is a Ph.D. candidate at the lab. She started working in the lab in 2018 as a research assistant, mainly designing and conducting experiments on CFRP composites and characterization of the microstructure using optical and SEM microscopes. Her master's thesis includes predicting failure envelopes using different failure criteria (strain invariant failure theory, cohesive-zone model) using the PHFGMC micromechanical model. 

Ido’s research focused on composite materials included experimental work and computational micromechanics. In his master’s thesis on soft polymeric laminated composites, non-standard experiments were developed and validated to characterize non-linear mechanical behavior and interlaminar damage. In his Ph.D. research, the PHFGMC model framework was extended to address non-linear elastic materials as well as the formulation and implementation of advanced damage models, i.e., traction-separation cohesive laws, and phase-field.

Uri hold a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering (Tel Aviv University, Israel, 2024). His thesis title is:  “Micromechanical Finite Strain Behavior, Damage, and Failure of Composite Materials”; Advisors: Prof. Rami Haj-Ali and Prof. Jacob Aboudi