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Research InterestsThe CFG research concentrates on computer simulation and physical testing of complex fracturing processes in materials ranging from rock to aerospace alloys. Experimental results are used as input data for developing a family of powerful systems for simulating crack propagation, based on finite- and boundary-element engines, and employing unique topological data structures and computer-visualization techniques. These systems are being used by the aerospace industry at Boeing, GE, Northrop Grumman, and Pratt and Whitney, by the petroleum industry at Schlumberger, Dowell, and Exxon, and by government agencies such as the FAA and NASA Langley and NASA Glenn Research Centers. For the aerospace community, our tools are being applied to assess damage tolerance in critical flight structures, especially in aging commercial military and jet aircraft, and in gas turbine components. The principal objectives are to predict the rate of crack propagation due to fatigue in fuselage and engine components, and to estimate their remaining life and residual strength. For the petroleum industry, we are providing simulators for the process of hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells, a process that stimulates increased production. Simulations involve complex geometries of multiple cracks, and coupling with fluid flow and particle transport processes. We have also used our simulators to perform forensic studies of cracking in large concrete structures. We have been able to identify the causes of cracking and failure of bridge piers and of gravity and arch dams in the U.S. and in Europe. Over the next five years we will be working to increase our understanding of crack growth in a variety of materials in order to improve the accuracy of the models we use in our simulators. We are pursuing a "digital materials" approach in which we are replacing phenomenology at the component scale with best-physics-based approaches at multiple, smaller scales. At the same time, we are increasing efficiency by making massively parallel computing via Windows clusters and web-serviced componentization an integral part of simulation on the desktop.
Current Projects in the CFG
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