AE Seminar

Isogeometric Analysis: Breakthroughs in Computational Mechanics of Laminated Composites and Beyond

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Yuri Bazilevs

E. Paul Sorensen Professor of Engineering | Brown University

Monday, April 14
2 - 3 p.m.
CoVE (2nd floor of Weber SST)

About the Seminar: 
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) structures enjoy great popularity in aerospace applications largely due to their high stiffness-to-weight ratio. The high strength feature of CFRP comes from brittle, unidirectional carbon fibers embedded in a lightweight, polymer-based epoxy matrix. For instance, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft is 80% composite by volume, with 32 tons of CFRP composites scattered between the fuselage, wings, tail, doors, and interior. However, CFRPs present a significant challenge to the computational analysis, which is addressed in this presentation. A comprehensive framework for damage modeling of laminated composite structures that is built on Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) as a foundational simulation technology is presented. The formulation is based on a multilayer approach that employs Kirchhoff–Love shell theory coupled with anisotropic elastoplastic damage to model the mechanical behavior of the individual plies. The plies are connected at their interfaces through a mixed-mode cohesive damage model that is used to represent delamination. The resulting framework is deployed on a series of simulation cases with increasing complexity of the geometry and mechanical phenomena modeled. In the majority of cases, experimental data is used for the validation purposes and for demonstrating the superior robustness, predictive power, and practicality of the formulation presented. The presentation includes some extensions of the proposed framework to modern applications in the mechanics of structures.

About the Speaker: 
Yuri Bazilevs is the E. Paul Sorensen Professor in the School of Engineering at Brown University, where he is the inaugural Director of the Mechanics of Undersea Science and Engineering (MUSE) center and also served as the Lead and Executive Committee representative of the Mechanics of Solids and Structures group. Yuri’s research interests are in computational mechanics, with emphasis on the modeling and simulation in solids and structures, fluids, and their coupling in HPC environments. For his research contributions Yuri received many awards and honors, including the 2018 Walter E. Huber Research Prize from the ASCE, the 2020 Gustus L. Larson Award from the ASME, and the 2022 Computational Mechanics Award from the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM). He is included in the lists of Highly Cited Researchers, both in the Engineering (2015-2018) and Computer Science (2014-2019) categories. Yuri recently completed his service as the President of the US Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM) and as the Chairman of the Applied Mechanics Division of the ASME. He currently serves on the US National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNCTAM), the Board of Directors of the USACM, and the executive council of the IACM.