Particulate materials remain a class of materials not mastered with regard to modeling computationally their spectrum of mechanical behavior in a physically-based manner across several orders of magnitude in length-scale. Particulate materials may transition in an instant from deforming like a solid to flowing like a fluid or gas and vice versa. It is not feasible to simulate computationally the heterogeneous, localized deformation, and flow response in the engineering application of interest involving particulate materials using a pure particle-based materials modeling approach (such as DEM).
Intellectual merit: The project seeks to overcome this limitation in scale-representation of particulate materials by the development of a computational multiscale modeling approach and its calibration/ validation against micro to macro-scale experiments. In doing so, the proposed effort will 1) provide physical insight into the deposition and compaction of metallic powders into complex die shapes and the potential mechanisms leading to non-uniform density after compaction; and 2) determine the redistributed state of sand particles in the vicinity of a rigid penetrating object.
Broader impacts include (i) transfer of innovative computational multiscale modeling technology to the automotive industry through CAVS for improving the manufacture of near net-shape components of extremely complex geometries and various unforeseen alloy material systems; (ii) recruitment of underrepresented minorities in the engineering disciplines; and (iii) sharing of experimental and computational advances and physical insight gained with the technical and student communities.
