Computational Materials Science and Engineering
Advances in computing power and software offer the potential to design, synthesize, characterize and test materials in a virtual setting. These capabilities enable accelerated development and optimization of new materials across a range of applications. The Department's long-term investment in this vision has produced one of the leading programs in computational materials science and engineering. This is evidenced by:
- A large core facility offering comprehensive coverage of advanced techniques
- Access to world-class computing facilities, including the Ohio Supercomputing Center
- A rich experimental environment to motivate and challenge computational research
- Graduate core and elective courses in computational modeling and simulation
The Department's recent computational materials science and engineering research efforts include:
Materials Synthesis:
- solidification and additive manufacturing of metals and alloys (finite difference, finite element and cellular automation)
- phase transformations during non-equilibrium processing (phase field)
- microstructural evolution in aerospace materials (phase field)
- microstructure evolution during joining (computational thermodynamics & kinetics)
- texture evolution during grain growth (phase field)
Characterization and Defect Structure:
- interaction of dislocations with interfaces (atomistic, Peierls, phase field)
- dislocation evolution in nanoscale materials (dislocation dynamics)
Biological and Polymeric Materials:
- mechanical analysis for medical device design (e.g., stiffness matching)
- medical device resorption/corrosion
- fabrication process modeling
- deformation of polymer scaffolds for engineered tissue (finite element)
Electronic Materials:
- process and device modeling (atomistics)
- texture development in sputtering targets (finite element)
Nuclear Materials:
- damage creation and annealing in irradiated materials (atomistics, Monte Carlo)
- effect of damage on mechanical and functional properties (continuum)
Structural Materials:
- deformation mechanisms in nanocrystalline metals (phase field, finite element)
- thermo-mechanical response of shape memory alloys (finite element)
- metal forming and springback (finite element)
