Current Project Outlines 



 

Anelastic Mechanical Behavior of Plasma Sprayed Ceramic Coatings

Thermally Sprayed coatings possess unique mechanical properties due to their distinctive morphology consisting of cracks, pores and splat interfaces. A robust constitutive model has been developed to characterize the anelastic behavior (nonlinearity and hysteresis) of TS coatings. This versatile procedure requires minimum sample preparation and computational effort. Current focus is on simulating the deposition process to develop it as a predictive tool and also to gather insights on individual effects of various processing conditions.




 

Surface Damage Detection of CFRP

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) are very effective structural components in aerospace industry. Surface damage can be caused by high velocity impacts that significantly weakens its compressive strength and stiffness. The objective of this investigation is to develop a novel method to detect surface damage of CFRP laminates.




 

Cavitation in Nonlinear Elastic Solids

Sufficient triaxial loading can induce the growth of pre-existing defects or voids within elastomeric solids leading to sudden appearance of internal cavities. The objective is to develop an effective process to simulate cavitation instabilities in nonlinear elastic solids with Finite Element Analysis under multi-axial loading conditions and to determine the onset-of-cavity surface or the Cauchy stress states at which cavitation ensues.




 

Microstructure Modelling and Mechanical Characterization of Tooth Enamel

Human tooth enamel exhibits highly anisotropic behavior due to its periodic prism structure. The goal is to develop a constitutive model for tooth enamel and determine its mechanical response/properties, in order to study wear, abrasion lesion and impact damage.