Interpretation of the massive amount of data (i.e,. microstructure images comprising millions of voxels) produced by emerging three-dimensional (3-D) characterization methods of polycrystalline materials, require very effi cient models. Such models should be able to use direct input from those images to predict mechanical response. In this work we present a formulation based on fast Fourier tra...

Four prototypes of biomimetic sensors have been designed and implemented for flight control of a robotic flying insect. The ocelli use four photodiodes to detect changes in light intensity in the surrounding. The halteres use piezoactuated vibrating structures to sense body rotational velocities via the Coriolis forces. The optic flow sensors consist of linear arrays of elementary motion detect...

In this research, a modeling and experimental study was conducted to explore the effects of nanoparticle type (aluminum nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes), filler concentration and interactions between the nanoparticle and reinforcing fibers on through-thickness conductivity of nanoparticle/epoxy nanocomposites and nanoparticle/fiber-reinforced multiscale composites. Multiple, notable micromec...

Crack initiation governs high cycle fatigue life and is sensitive to microstructural details. While corresponding microstructure-sensitive models are available, their validation difficult. We propose a framework where test mimicked in sub-modeling simulation by embedding the measured microstructure into specimen geometry adopting an approximation of experimental boundary conditions. Exemplary, ...

in this study, thermoplastic polyolefin elastomeric (tpo) nanocomposites were fabricated by friction stir processing. the effect of different pin geometries on clay dispersion and mechanical properties of the tpo nanocomposite reinforced with 3% wt nanoclay has been first investigated. the optimum pin geometry namely threaded cylindrical pin was then used to fabricate the nanocomposites contain...

This paper presents a new micromechanical model for a collection of cohesive zone models embedded between each mesh of a finite element-type discretization. It aims to forth fully extend the previous linear results of [1] to the calibration of damageable cohesive parameters (cohesive peak stress, critical opening displacement, cohesive energy, etc). The main idea of the approach consists in rep...

A circuit-level methodology for simulating micromachined inertial sensors based on a hierarchical representation of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is presented. In the NODAS methodology ( NO dal Design of Actuators and Sensors), microaccelerometers and microgyroscopes are designed as netlists of general-purpose micromechanical beams, plates, electrostatic gaps, joints, and anchors and ev...

This Keynote Paper is concerned with the fundamental mechanics of granular materials with a particular reference to non-coaxial behaviour. The non-coaxial behaviour refers to the non-coincidence of principal stress directions and corresponding principal plastic strain rate directions during plastic deformation. At present, the majority of soil models used in geotechnical practice are those of a...

Creating insect-scale flapping flight at the 0.1 gram size has presented significant engineering challenges. A particular focus has been on creating miniature machines which generate similar wing stroke kinematics as flies or bees. Key challenges have been thorax mechanics, thorax dynamics, and obtaining high powerto-weight ratio actuators. Careful attention to mechanical design of the thorax a...