Unraveling the Shock Physics of Architected Materials

Abstract

After a decade of research, ultralight architected materials with engineered microstructures and tailored properties are at the cusp of widespread adoption in aerospace and defense applications. However, little attention has been devoted to understanding the shock physics of these materials under extreme loads, particularly since existing continuum theories for shocks breakdown due to the presence of a networked microstructure. Previous efforts in our research have furnished unique capabilities to design architected materials with tailored properties (Kumar s group) and to model complex material behavior in extreme environments with unprecedented fidelity (Giovanardi s group). Building on these results, the goal of this project is to develop and validate a scalable simulation capability to analyze shocks and fracture behavior of architected materials. Our approach will be to exploit and extend our legacy high-performance computational framework with advanced algorithms for modeling elastoplastic shockwaves scattering, contact-driven compaction shockwaves, and energy-dissipating fragmentation and instabilities relief waves in architected materials under extreme strain-rates. A critical aspect of the project will be developing massively-parallel algorithms to simultaneously track several thousands of cracks, fragmentations, and contact events among the structural members of an architected material. The outcome of this project will shed light on the shock physics of architected materials, thus paving the road towards the utilization of this technology in novel ultralight shields against mission-critical supersonic debris impact damage on aerospace structures.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Apr 20, 2023
Source ID
FA86552217035

Entities

People

  • Siddhant Kumar

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Delft University of Technology
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Reinforced Composite Materials
  • Research Science/Academic Research

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Space