| AVS 55th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Nanometer-scale Science and Technology | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session NS-TuP |
| Session: | Poster Session |
| Presenter: | R. Said, Simpleware Ltd., UK |
| Authors: | R. Said, Simpleware Ltd., UK P.G. Young, University of Exeter, UK B. Walker, Arup, UK A. Abdul-Aziz, NASA Glenn Research Center B. Notarberardino, University of Exeter, UK |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Computational simulation is increasingly proving to be a very effective and valuable tool in investigating materials behaviour at the micro and nano-scale level and in assessing its influence on the overall macro-scale properties. Well established computational techniques (based on numerical methods such as the Finite Element Method) can now be used to simulate mechanical, fluid dynamics, thermal or any combined (multi-physics) phenomena at the micro and nano-scale level. Crucial to the success of such a simulation is the ability to represent the 'micro-architecture' accurately and efficiently - which has proved to be a very challenging task so far. This paper will present an innovative image-based mesh generation technique that converts 3D images of micro and nano-structures (as provided by typical Micro/NanoCT scanners) directly into high fidelity computational models. The approach provides a deeper understanding than experimental tests, and achieves more realistic model results than via analytical approaches. Real-life applications will be presented, including the densification analysis of open celled foam, and the characterisation of composite materials. The aims of the paper is to demonstrate the potential of the proposed approach for understanding the nexus between micro-scale architecture and macro-scale properties, and illustrate the ability to simulate topologically complex problems with a high degree of accuracy but in a fraction of the time taken by other approximate methods. The ability to straightforwardly and robustly model the response of complex micro and nano-architectures provides powerful new tools for the material scientist to easily explore the influence of various parameters on the performance of novel complex material systems, which will be increasingly used in addition to and in combination with analytical modelling and experimental tests. These computational techniques will also be pivotal to the development of tools for material characterization of complex composites using inverse modelling techniques.