Emmanuel Gdoutos


Emmanuel E. Gdoutos is a Greek academic, Professor Emeritus at the Democritus University of Thrace and Full Member of the Academy of Athens. He has worked in experimental mechanics, fracture mechanics, composite materials, and sandwich structures. His main scientific accomplishments include the solution of many problems of crack growth under combination of opening-mode and sliding-mode loading which were published in his book: “Problems of Mixed-Mode Crack Propagation." His contributions have been widely recognized worldwide through membership and leadership in scientific societies, national academies and honorary diplomas and awards.

Early life and career

Gdoutos was born on June 2, 1948, in Mytilene, Greece. He earned his Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1971 and his PhD in Applied Mechanics in 1973, both from the National Technical University of Athens. Gdoutos has been married to Maria Konsta-Gdoutos since 1984. Gdoutos and Maria Konsta-Gdoutos have two children, Eleftherios Gdoutos and Alexandra-Kalliopi Gdoutou.
Gdoutos is a Full Member of the Academy of Athens since 2016. He served as Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Applied Mechanics, and as Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Democritus University of Thrace. Gdoutos has held numerous academic appointments internationally, serving as the Distinguished Clark Millikan Professor at the California Institute of Technology and as Visiting Professor at Northwestern University, Lehigh University, the University of California, Davis, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Toledo. He promoted the Greek-Ukrainian relations by implementing technical exchange in the field of solid mechanics and organizing and participating in bi-lateral conferences between the two nations in Lviv, Ukraine and Xanthi, Greece.
He is Archon, Teacher of the Nation, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. He serves as President of the Hellenic Society of Linguistic Heritage and the Theocaris Foundation of the Academy of Athens
On the occasion of the 16th European Conference of Fracture he presented the opening ceremony address in English using only words of Greek origin.

Research interests

Gdoutos's research interest include experimental mechanics, fracture mechanics, advanced composite materials, sandwich construction, and nanotechnology. He is the author of 16 books, 135 papers in refereed journals, 136 papers in conference proceedings, and editor of 25 books. He presented solution to the problem of stable crack growth under elastoplastic conditions.
He analyzed the three-dimensional nature of the stress field at crack tips by the optical method of caustics and studied the residual stresses in ceramic composites.
Besides, he presented solutions for the stress and failure behavior of brittle matrix composites. He analyzed the nonlinear behavior and failure mechanisms of sandwich structures and foam materials under various loading conditions. He analyzed the fatigue and failure behavior of tire rubber, and studied the processing and characterization of clay/epoxy nanocomposites.
He developed the equations of caustics for the general case of a surface in space and developed a method for the study of the topography of the surface from its corresponding caustics by illuminating the surface by a parallel, convergent or divergent light beam.
He presented solutions to the problem of stress singularity at the apex of two wedges fully bonded or sliding.

Membership in National Academies

Fellowships

Awards and honours

  • “Timoshenko Mechanics Lecture”, Louisiana State University, 2020
  • “Award of the Rotary Club of Mytilene”, for His Invaluable Contributions in Engineering Mechanics and Higher Education, 2019
  • Archon, Teacher of the Nation, Patriarchate of Alexandria and Africa, 2018
  • “Blaise Pascal Medal in Engineering 2018,” European Academy of Sciences, 2018
  • “Takeo Yokobori Medal,” International Congress of Fracture, 2017
  • “Theocaris Award,” European Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2012
  • SAGE Best Paper Award at the First International Conference on Damage Mechanics, Belgrade, 25–27 July 2012, for the paper: "Failure Modes of Composite Sandwich Beams," International Journal of Damage Mechanics, Vol. 11, pp. 309–334, 2002, by Daniel, I.M., Gdoutos, E.E., Wang, K.-A. and Abot, J.L., 2012
  • “Panetti-Ferrari Prize,” Turin Academy of Sciences, 2012, J.M. Burgers, W. Prager, M.J. Lighthill, C. Truesdell, N.I. Muskhelishvili, W.T. Koiter, R.S. Rivlin, P. Germain, G. Grioli, L. Crocco, R. Hill, G.I. Barenblatt, D.C. Drucker, H.K. Moffatt, J.L. Ericksen, K.R. Sreenivasan, J.R. Rice, U. Frisch
  • “Colonnetti Gold Medal 2012,” Italian Research Institute of Metrology, 2012
  • “Zandman Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2011
  • “Golden Sign,” Russian Academy of Engineering, 2011
  • "Tatnall Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2010
  • “Award of Merit,” European Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2010
  • “Griffith Medal,” European Structural Integrity Society, 2010
  • “Theocaris Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2009
  • “Lazan Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics, 2009
  • Medal and Diploma of the International Academic Rating of Popularity “Golden Fortune,” 2009
  • Paton Medal of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 2009
  • Jubilee Medal “XV Year to IAE” of the International Academy of Engineering, 2009
  • “Award of Merit,” European Structural Integrity Society, 2008
  • The Journal Meccanica dedicated a special issue in his honor, Vol. 50, pp. 253–590.