Daniel Spring, Ph.D.

Engineering Software Team Leader

Years of Experience | 10

Education & Licenses:

Doctor of Philosophy, Civil Engineering, 2015, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
— Thesis: Failure Processes in Soft and Quasi-Brittle Materials with Nonhomogeneous Microstructures
Master of Science, Civil Engineering, 2011, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL
— Thesis: Cohesive Zone Modeling of Fracture of Sustainable and Functionally Graded Concrete
Bachelor of Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2009, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Areas of Specialization:

Static and dynamic pipe stress analysis
Fracture mechanics of soft and quasi-brittle materials with heterogeneous microstructures
Computational mechanics for the simulation of static and dynamic crack propagation
Numerical analysis using implicit and explicit finite element methods (FEA)
Computational plasticity and material behavior at elevated temperatures
Mechanics of composite materials under large deformation, including nanoscale interphase effects
Constitutive modeling of quasi-brittle materials and particle-reinforced composites
Structural design and analysis of steel and reinforced concrete systems
Software development and scientific computing in FORTRAN, C, C++, C#, Python, and MATLAB
Frontend software development using React/Redux, Angular, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

Overview:

Dan joined Equity Research in 2015 and currently serves as the Engineering Software Team Leader.  He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where his research focused on computational fracture mechanics, with particular emphasis on the use of cohesive zone models to simulate quasi-static and dynamic crack propagation.

As part of his doctoral work, Dan developed a novel methodology to address a longstanding limitation of cohesive element methods—mesh dependency—by leveraging adaptive topological operators on polygonal discretizations.  This approach enables mesh-independent crack propagation within cohesive zone frameworks.  He also proposed a new thermodynamically consistent constitutive model for crack face unloading within cohesive zones, a development particularly relevant for accurately modeling fatigue crack growth and self-healing material behavior.

A second focus of Dan’s research involved the micromechanics of composite materials.  His contributions in this area include developing a solution to quantify the influence of nanoscale interphases on the macroscale mechanical response of particle-reinforced elastomers subjected to large deformations.  Additionally, he established a computational framework to investigate the role of interfacial debonding in driving macroscopic softening in particle-reinforced polymers.

Presentations:

“On the Validation of the Plausible Profiles (Psqr) Method for the Assessment of Corroded Pipelines,” presented by D.W. Spring at the API Inspection & Mechanical Integrity Summit, January 2024, San Antonio, TX.

“Updating the Master S-N Curve to Account for Run-Out Data: Application to Piping Vibrations,” presented by D.W. Spring, E. Gassama, M.F.P. Bifano, and A. Feller at the 8th Fatigue Design Conference, November 2019, Senlis, France.

“Part 14 for Fatigue Damage Assessments and its Application,” presented by D.W. Spring at the API 579-1 FFS Seminar, October 2018, Tokyo, Japan.

“On the applicability of Neuber’s rule for low-cycle fatigue,” presented by D. W. Spring, E. Gassama, A. Stenta, J. Cochran, and C. Panzarella at the ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Pipeline Conference, July 2016, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

“Revisiting the Bree diagram,” presented by D. W. Spring, C. Panzarella, and D. A. Osage at the ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Pipeline Conference, July 2016, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

“Probabilistic financial analysis of cokes drum life cycle management,” presented by C. Panzarella, E. Gassama, and D. W. Spring at the ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Pipeline Conference, July 2016, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

“Unstructuring methods for pervasive fragmentation simulations in three-dimensions,” presented by D. W. Spring and G. H. Paulino at the 13th U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics, July 2015, San Diego, CA.

“Computational homogenization of the debonding of particle reinforced elastomers: Considering interphases,” presented by D. W. Spring and G. H. Paulino at the 51st Annual Society of Engineering Science Technical Meeting, October 2014, West Lafayette, IN.

“Using geometrically, topologically and materially unstructured methods to reduce mesh dependency in dynamic cohesive fracture simulations,” presented by D. W. Spring, S. E. Leon, and G. H. Paulino at the 17th U.S. National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, June 2014, East Lansing, MI.

“Geometrically and topologically unstructured polygons for dynamic cohesive fracture,” presented by D. W. Spring, S. E. Leon, and G. H. Paulino at the Computational Science and Engineering Annual Meeting, April 2014, Champaign, IL.

“On particle debonding in particle-reinforced elastomers under finite deformations: A cohesive zone approach,” presented by D. W. Spring and G. H. Paulino at the Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference, August 2013, Chicago, IL.

Publications:

Brown, D. L., Spring, D. W., Panzarella, C. H., Level Three Assessment of Local Thin Areas in Pipelines Using Web-Enabled FEA. ASME 2019 Pressure Vessels and Pipeline Conference, PVP2019-93584, 2019.

Gassama, E., Bifano, M. F. P., Feller, A. J., Spring, D. W., Updating the Master S-N Curve to Account for Run-Out Data: Application to Piping Vibrations. 8th International Conference of Fatigue Design. Procedia Engineering, 2019.

Stenta, A., Gassama, E., Spring, D. W., Panzarella, C., Cochran, J., Osage, D., Standardization of Fatigue Methods for Use in API 579-1/ASME FFS-1. Welding Research Council Bulletin 550, 2019.

Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., Achieving pervasive fracture and fragmentation in three-dimensions: an unstructuring-based approach. International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 210, pp. 113-136, 2018.

Giraldo-Londono, O., Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., Buttlar, W. G., An efficient mixed-mode rate-dependent cohesive fracture model. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 192, pp. 307-327, 2018.

Osage, D. A., Dong, P., Spring, D. W., Fatigue assessment of welded joints in API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2016 – Existing methods and new developments. 7th International Conference on Fatigue Design. Procedia Engineering: FD17-082, 2018.

Osage, D. A., Spring, D. W., Anderson, T. L., Kummari, S. R., Preuter, P. E., Wallin, K. R. W., Recommendations for Establishing the Minimum Pressurization temperature (MPT) for Equipment. Welding Research Council Bulletin 562, 2017.

Spring, D. W., Giraldo-Londono, O., Paulino, G. H., A study on the thermodynamic consistency of the Park-Paulino-Roesler (PPR) cohesive fracture model. Mechanics Research Communications, Vol. 78, Part B, pp. 100-109, 2016.

Amirkhanian, A. N., Spring, D. W., Roesler, J. R., Paulino, G. H., Forward and inverse analysis of concrete fracture using the disk-shaped compact tension test. Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 44, pp. 625-634, 2016.

Spring, D. W., Panzarella, C., Osage, D. A., Revisiting the Bree diagram. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Volume 1A: Codes and Standards: V01AT01A033. DOI:10.115/PVP2016-63635, 2016.

Spring, D. W., Gassama, E., Stenta, A., Cochran, J., Panzarella, C., On the applicability of Neuber’s rule for low-cycle fatigue. ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Pipeline Conference, Volume 1B: Codes and Standards: V01BT01A062. DOI: 10.115/PVP2016-63665, 2016.

Panzarella, C., Gassama, E., Spring, D. W., Probabilistic financial analysis of cokes drum life cycle management. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Volume 1A: Codes and Standards: V01AT01A037. DOI:10.115/PVP2016-63670, 2016.

Gassama, E., Spring, D. W., Stenta, A., Cochran, J., Panzarella, C., A probabilistic approach to the thermo-mechanical analysis of coke drums. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Volume 1A: Codes and Standards: V01AT01A038. DOI:10.115/PVP2016-63676, 2016.

Stenta, A., Gassama, E., Spring, D. W., Cochran, J., Panzarella, C., Osage, D. A., Summary and applications of the new fatigue rules in Part 14 of API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 and WRC 550. ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Volume 1A: Codes and Standards: V01AT01A002. DOI:10.115/PVP2016-63678, 2016.

Hashemi, R., Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., On small deformation interfacial debonding in composite materials containing multi-coated particles. Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 49, pp. 3439-3455, 2015.

Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., Computational homogenization of the debonding of particle reinforced elastomers: The role of interphases in interfaces. Computational Materials Science, Vol. 109, pp. 209-224, 2015.

Goudarzi, T., Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., Lopez-Pamies, O., Filled elastomers: A theory of filler reinforcement based on hydrodynamic and interphasial effects. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, Vol. 80, pp. 37-67, 2015.

Spring, D. W., Leon, S. E., Paulino, G. H., Unstructured polygonal meshes with adaptive refinement for the numerical simulation of dynamic cohesive fracture. International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 189, pp. 33-57, 2014.

Leon, S. E., Spring, D. W., Paulino, G. H., Reduction in mesh bias for dynamic fracture using adaptive splitting of polygonal finite elements. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 100, pp. 555-576, 2014.

Spring, D. W. Paulino, G. H., A growing library of three-dimensional cohesive elements for use in ABAQUS. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 126, pp. 190-216, 2014.

Amirkhanian, A., Spring, D. W., Roesler, J. R., Park, K., Paulino, G. H., Disk-shaped Compact Tension Test for Plain Concrete. Transportation and Development Institute Congress 2011, pp. 688-698, DOI: 10.1061/41167(398)66, 2011.