Design, Materials and Manufacturing

Design, materials and manufacturing research is focused on several industries including aerospace, automotive, energy, nuclear, bioengineering and micro/nanotechnology.

Research topics under this area include:

  1. Materials Processes and Design (Castro, ChoDapinoDupaixHoelzleKatsubeKhafizovJ. KimPourboghratShah, Stewart, Su, Wolff) includes research that is being performed on traditional and emerging materials with regard to adaptivity, multifunctionality, robustness and self-assembly.  The range of materials subject to analysis and development include smart materials, semi-conductors and semi-metals, bio-materials, polymer-based composties, coolant materials, nuclear materials, anisotropic elastic solids, metals with plastic deformation, among others.
  2. Material Property Characterization (AgarwalChoDapinoDupaixGilat, HeremansKhafizovMenqNiezgodaNoll, PourboghratSoghrati, Stewart, Wolff, Zhai) focuses on state-of-the-art analytical, experimental and computational techniques that are being combined in innovative ways to generate insight into constitutive relations, surface phenomena and connections between microscopic and continuum scales material properties and response to stimuli, such as vibrations, strain rates and temperatures, plasticity and mechanical characterization of live cells. 
  3. Modeling of Materials and Processes (DapinoGilatKatsubeLuscherNiezgodaPourboghratSoghrati, Stewart, Sutradhar) research looks at analytical and computational modeling of material (ACML) processes and has numerous goals, including validation of designs as well as effect of environment and load conditions, including targeting progressive corrosion in metallic materials, design optimization problems, damage mechanisms in multifunctional composites, linear and non-linear wave propagation and adhesive-bonded joints and computational biomechanics. ACML research is focused on automating the computational modeling process by developing novel mesh-independent finite element and mesh-free methods that eliminate the complexities associated with modeling problems displaying complex and evolving morphologies. 
  4. Manufacturing Science and Technology (DapinoHoelzleMenqPourboghratShah, Stewart, Sutradhar, Wolff) research looks at the properties of materials and their response to short and long-term environmental and loading effects are being studied to improve manufacturing processes, including additive manufacturing of smart structures, synthesis of materials for thermoelectric applications and precision manufacturing. Digital manufacturing applications of interest to industry include manufacture of devices for energy harvesting, sustainable conversion of greenhouse gases using biomolecular materials, shape morphing and sensing, and minimally invasive surgical tools and synthetic jet actuators for various automotive, aerospace and other applications. 

Labs and Centers

Graduate Courses

  • ME 5144: Fracture Mechanics
  • ME 5162: Composite materials
  • ME 5168: Introduction to the Finite Element Method
  • ME 5180: Mechanics of Biomolecular Systems
  • ME 5372: Design and Control of Mechatronic Systems
  • ME 5374: Smart Materials and Intelligent Systems
  • ME 5680: Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing
  • ME 5682: Fundamentals of Product Design Engineering
  • ME 5751: Design and Manufacturing of Compliant Mechanisms and Robots
  • ME 7100: Introduction to Continuum Mechanics
  • ME 7101: Constitutive Models in Continuum Mechanics
  • ME 7163: Advanced Strength of Materials and Elasticity Theory
  • ME 7761: Optimum Design of Machines and Structures
  • ME 8038: Advanced Topics in Finite Element Method
  • ME 8503: Statistical Thermodynamics
  • ME 8603: Irreversible Thermodynamics and Transport of Charge, Heat, and Spin

 

Faculty