Ronald Rivlin
2388196
220995017
2008-06-22T15:52:23Z
Chemical Engineer
2015158
/* Awards */ link
'''Ronald S. Rivlin''' ([[1915]]–[[2005]]) was an American [[physicist]] and [[mathematician]] and a prominent [[rheology|rheologist]] . One of creators of the modern theory of '''large elastic deformations''', including theory of [[Neo-Hookean solid]]s and [[Mooney-Rivlin solid]]s. Up until his death in October 2005, he was a [[Emeritus|professor-emeritus]] at [[Lehigh University]].
==Life==
Rivlin was born in [[London]], and he received his BA degree in physics and mathematics from [[St John's College, Cambridge]] in 1937 and a doctorate ([[ScD]]) from Cambridge in 1952.
Rivlin first worked for the General Electric Company (1937–1942), where he came into contact with the prominent rubber expert L. R. G. Treloar. From 1942–1944 Rivlin worked at Telecommunications Research Establishment and subsequently moved to the British Rubber Producers Research Association (1944–1952). Rivlin is believed to have become interested in [[viscoelastic]] liquids through his contact with Treloar, who influenced his decision to move to BRPRA, and as a result of seeing the normal-force-driven rod-climbing experiments of [[Karl Weissenberg]] during his time at BRPRA. In 1953 Rivlin moved into academia, becoming professor of [[Applied Mathematics]] at [[Brown University]], where he taught until 1967. In 1963 he co-hosted the 4th International Congress on Rheology in Providence, RI with R. S. Marvin. Rivlin moved to [[Lehigh University]] in 1967 and retired from that institution in 1980. Ronald Samuel Rivlin died on [[4 October]] [[2005]] at the age of 90.
== Continuum mechanics==
Rivlin’s work figured prominently in the history of the development of constitutive equations for [[non-Newtonian fluid]]s. The Reiner-Rivlin equation (stress is a quadratic function of the rate-of-strain tensor) was an early non-Newtonian constitutive equation, perhaps the first nonlinear constitutive equation to be properly frame-invariant. This inelastic constitutive equation was proposed by [[Markus Reiner]] from phenomenological arguments, while Rivlin deduced the same equation as the mathematical form that is consistent both with the stress being a function only of the rate-of-deformation tensor and independence of the calculation from superposed rigid rotation (frame-invariance). Rivlin’s name stands with those of Oldroyd, Ericksen, Green, Coleman, and Noll as fundamental to the development of modern constitutive theories for elastic liquids.
== Awards==
Rivlin received the Society of Rheology [[Bingham Medal]] in 1958 and was a member of the U.S. [[National Academy of Engineering]] and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]. He was awarded the [[Timoshenko Medal]] in 1987. He received the Charles Goodyear medal from the [[American Chemical Society]]'s Rubber Division in 1992.
==External links==
*[http://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/html/id.phtml?id=13687 Ronald Rivlin in Mathematical Genealogy project]]
*[http://www.rubberconsultants.com/newsletters/articles/Article1.htm Rivlin's contribution to Fracture Mechanics in Rubber]
*[http://web.auth.gr/NabarroHartRivlin/images/3.gif A photograph of Ronald Rivlin] from [http://web.auth.gr/NabarroHartRivlin/Nabarro-Hart-Rivlin.html]
*[http://photos.aip.org/history/Thumbnails/rivlin_ronald_a1.jpg An early photograph of Ronald Rivlin ] from [http://photos.aip.org/]
==References==
* Rheology Bulletin, 75(1), January 2006
* TOMAS CARLSSON, FRANK M. LESLIE, ''The development of theory for flow and dynamic effects for nematic liquid crystals'', Liquid Crystals, V 26, N 9 / September 1, 1999, pp. 1267 - 1280, URL: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=ekncnam7bkr24tb9
[[Category:1915 births|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:2005 deaths|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:American physicists|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:American mathematicians|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:20th century mathematicians|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:Polymer scientists and engineers|Rivlin, Ronald]]
[[Category:Lehigh University]]
[[Category:Lehigh University faculty]]
[[Category:Solid mechanics]]