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The research article entitled, “Topology Optimization of Fixed-Geometry Fluid Diodes”, co-authored by Sen Lin, Longyu Zhao (both graduate students), Drs. Jamie Guest, Timothy P. Weihs and Zhenyu  Liu, was featured in ASME, Journal of Mechanical Design.

This article discussed the utilization of topology optimization technique in designing fixed-geometry fluid diodes. Although compelling research has been conducted in topology optimization of fluids for minimizing dissipation, maximizing dissipation introduces some challenges. One such solution presented in this article is fabricated by 3D printing and experimentally tested to demonstrate the diode-like behavior. Figure to the left is from J. Mech. Des 137(8), 081402 (Aug 01, 2015) (8 pages). 

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Congratulations to Coleman! Coleman Alleman successfully defended his thesis entitled, “Distribution Enhanced Methods of Homogenization for Heterogeneous Materials and Multi-scale Crystal Plasticity Modeling” on Tuesday, August 25th, 2015. Members of his thesis committee included, Prof. Somnath Ghosh, his thesis advisor, Prof. Lori Graham-Brady, Prof. Jaafar El-Awady, and Dr. Curt Bronkhorst, from Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL).

Coleman has been a member of Prof. Ghosh’s Computational Mechanics Research Laboratory (CMRL), since 2007 at Ohio State University. He completed his Master’s degree in 2011 from Ohio State with a thesis entitled, “Molecular Dynamics Investigations of Polystyrene-Based Binary Thin Film Systems: Interfacial Properties and Mechanical Behavior”. He later moved to Johns Hopkins University with Prof. Ghosh in 2011 to pursue his PhD in the Department of Civil Engineering. Coleman has recently joined Sandia National Labs in Livermore, California as a postdoctoral researcher. We wish him all the best! Click here for Coleman Alleman’s Thesis Defense Announcement

Ahmed Hussein, a member of Prof. Jaafar El-Awady’s Computational & Experimental Materials Engineering Laboratory (CEMEL) group, received a highly competitive Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the National Research Council Research Associateship Program (NRC RAP). He had recently defended his PhD dissertation entitled “Dislocation Microstructure and Surface Roughness Evolution in Single and Multi-Phase Microcrystals”, on  August 5th, 2015.

The mission of the NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) is to promote excellence in scientific and technological research conducted by the U.S. government through the administration of programs offering graduate, postdoctoral, and senior level research opportunities at sponsoring federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. And as an NRC Research Associate, Ahmed Hussein will be conducting his his postdoctoral studies at the Air force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

His research will focus on understanding the core structure of dislocations in high temperature materials such as Nickel based superalloys. He will also work on developing novel algorithms to accelerate discrete dislocation dynamics simulations in order to predict the plastic deformation and failure for metals for aerospace applications. The results of these simulations can be used to develop physically accurate material models that can be applied in designing the next generation of jet engines and power generation gas turbines.

Prof. Somnath Ghosh will chair the IUTAM (International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics) Symposium to be held in June 19-22, 2016, in Baltimore, Maryland. The symposium will be located in the inner harbor area at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court hotel. This symposium is co-sponsored by USACM (United States Association for Computational Mechanics).

Scope:

This IUTAM symposium will address state of the art topics and emerging issues in the area  of Integrated Computational Structure-Material Modeling of Deformation and Failure under Extreme Conditions. It will bring together experts in the complementary fields of Computational and Experimental Mechanics, and Materials Science to discuss multidisciplinary approaches for integrating modeling and simulation, characterization and experiments to predict non-homogeneous deformation and failure in heterogeneous materials including metals, ceramics and composites. It will focus on different material classes and cover a range of spatial and temporal scales needed for physics-based modeling of deformation and failure.

Effective methods of coupling multiple scales in regions of homogeneous and localized deformation leading to intense damage and failure will be discussed. Use of probabilistic mechanics, incorporating data from imaging into modeling capabilities through uncertainty characterization of material structure, uncertainty identification in material properties, mapping material structure uncertainty to structural performance will be discussed as essential ingredients of robust modeling process.  This conversation will take place with a goal of developing a 10 year vision and plan for advancing the field to enable solving these technological, economic and social challenges.

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CISMMS Associate Director, Jamie Guest is the recipient of the 2015 Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) Leonardo da Vince Award. The aim of this award is to recognize outstanding young investigators early in their careers for promising ground-breaking developments in the field of Engineering Mechanics and Mechanical Sciences as relevant to Civil Engineering. The EMI Leonardo da Vince award will be presented to him at the EMI 2015 Conference. Prof. Jamie Guest has been selected due to his work in the field of topology optimization methods. 

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