|
Functionally Graded Materials
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) consist of two or more material ingredients whose relative volume fractions and microstructure are engineered to have a continuous spatial variation. The goal of our research is to develop a robust methodology for designing the topology and material composition of functionally graded materials for high temperature and high heat flux applications. This is achieved by synergistically combining material constituents, performing accurate numerical simulations to evaluate candidate designs and optimizing the spatial material composition using genetic algorithms [More...]
Smart Structures
We are interested in a class of smart structures that consist of piezoelectric materials integrated with structural systems. A real-time feedback control loop using piezoelectric sensors and actuators is used for active vibration suppression and control. We have demonstrated through theoretical analysis, experiments and numerical simulations that piezoelectric shear actuators are very effective in damping the vibration of fiber-reinforced composite structures. We have also developed a method to experimentally quantify the changes in bolt load of modular composite panels by providing controlled vibration input using a piezoelectric actuator and measuring the transmittance between pairs of sensors bonded to the panel.
Laminated Composite Structures
My research deals primarily with the development of analytical solutions for the static deformation, vibration and thermomechanical response of thick laminated anisotropic plates subjected to arbitrary boundary conditions. Such analytical results are valuable as benchmark solutions for assessing the accuracy of plate theories and numerical formulations. Even though analytical solutions have been available since 1970 for simply supported beams and plates, the first analytical solutions for beams and plates with clamped and free edges were given by us in 2000. We have also studied tapered sandwich composite beams and demonstrated the existence of twelve elastic coupling coefficients that are absent in sandwich structures of constant thickness.
|
