- Investigate stress-strain responses in UHMWPE fibrils, analyzing both crystalline and amorphous domains, and assessing the impact of defects.- Formulate traction laws governing adhesion between UHMWPE fibrils, enhancing the understanding of their interfacial behavior.- Explore the thermal conductivity and permeability of UHMWPE under varying transverse pressures and elevated temperatures, shedding light on its transport properties.

- Investigate the effects of transverse pressure, strain rate, and temperature on intermolecular interactions and crystal structure of polyethylene using molecular dynamics simulations. - Utilize molecular dynamics simulations to develop mixed-mode traction laws for higher length scale finite element simulations.

- Predicted interactions of nanoscale defects in structural materials using deep generative neural networks.- Detected nanoscopic cracks in material samples using deep neural networks.- Investigate the shock response of domain-segregated polymers using density functional theory.

- Studied the shock wave propagation and dissipation through polymer/ceramics interfaces using molecular dynamics simulations to facilitate the design optimization of lightweight body armors.- Investigated the dominant energy dissipation mechanisms of polymer/metal multilayers under supersonic projectile impacts to elucidate the superior ballistic impact resistance of ultrathin films.- Used density functional theory calculations to obtain accurate inter-atomic force field parameters to model the mechanical behavior of material interfaces under high strain rates.- Computed shock Hugoniot of polymers using DFT-based quantum MD.- Published 6 research articles in leading journals and presented at 5 international conferences.

- Used deep convolutional neural networks to model fracture characteristics of defective graphene samples under various strain rates and temperatures.- Performed molecular dynamics simulations and analytical computations to investigate the crack-tip stress field and crack propagation due to the presence of material inhomogeneity at the nanoscale.- Conducted molecular dynamics simulations to evaluate the ballistic impact resistance of graphene-based composite materials.- Published four journal articles: (1) Dewapriya, Rajapakse & Dias, Carbon 163, 425-44. (2) Dewapriya & Rajapakse, Materials & Design 160, 718-730. (3) Dewapriya & Meguid, Computational Materials Science 170, 109171. (4) Dewapriya, Meguid & Rajapakse, Engineering Fracture Mechanics 195, 92-103.

- Performed stress analysis to understand the effects of crack interactions on the fracture characteristics of nanomaterials and developed design charts to depict the resulting change in the stress intensity factor.- Conducted numerical simulations of nanoindentation tests to evaluate the hardness of high-performance composites and characterized their structural integrity and failure patterns.- Demonstrated that the out-of-plane deformations of crack surfaces in ultrathin films reduce their resistance to crack propagation.- Published four journal articles:(1) Dewapriya & Meguid, Carbon 125, 113-131.(2) Dewapriya & Meguid, Acta Mechanica 228 (9), 3063-3075.(3) Dewapriya & Meguid, Computational Materials Science 141, 114-121.(4) Alian, Dewapriya & Meguid, Materials & Design 124, 47-57.

- Developed new analytical solutions to compute temperature-dependent design strength and interfacial adhesion of nanomaterials in the presence of atomic defects and impurities.- Implemented a new finite element framework in MATLAB to model the deformation of nanomaterials and developed a beam model in ANSYS to establish stress-strain relationships for 2D materials.- Developed computationally efficient design tools for nanomaterials.- Provided potential strategies to improve the interfacial adhesion of composite materials. - Characterized the complex fracture behavior of materials using atomistic simulations.- Taught engineering ethics and fundamentals of drawings, prepared exams and graded.- Published four journal articles:(1) Dewapriya & Rajapakse, Composites Part B: Engineering 98, 339-349.(2) Dewapriya & Rajapakse, Journal of Applied Mechanics 81 (8), 081010.(3) Dewapriya, Rajapakse & Nigam, Carbon 93, 830-842.(4) Dewapriya, Rajapakse & Phani, International Journal of Fracture 187, 199-212.

- Performed systematic atomistic simulations and continuum modeling to understand the effects of temperature, free edges, and atomistic defects on the mechanical behavior of 2D materials. - Developed a new finite element framework to investigate the mechanical behavior of nanomaterials.- Journal Publication:N Dewapriya, S Phani & N Rajapakse, Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 21 (6), 065017.

- Used Artificial Neural Networks, Fuzzy Inference Systems, and Linear Regression to derive relationships between tsunami intensity and other related parameters. - Used Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate different strengthening technique for coastal structures that are vulnerable to tsunamis.- Conducted finite element analysis using ANSYS to identify the state of stress in a critical floor of a four-storied underground power plant building due to an observed movement of a nearby geological fault.- Assessed structural fire damage of an industrial building and provided recommendations.- Conducted finite element analysis (SAP2000) and structural design of high-rise buildings.

Courses:- Structural Mechanics- Geotechnical Engineering- Concrete Design- Project Planning- Engineering Surveying