ResearchGroupProfile

FromNanostructuretoInfrastructure
NanoInfrastructureResearchGroupattheUniversityofMississippi
Goals:Tounderstandthemechanicsofnanomaterialsinthemultiscalecontextand tousethenanomaterialsfortheimprovementofthenationsinfrastructure. Rationale: During the last two decades, tremendous progress has been made in nanoscience.Newclassesofnanomaterials,suchascarbonnanotubes,nanofibers, nanowires,andquantumdotsarebeingassembledatombyatom,withvarioushigh tech applications in mindelectronics, biomedicine, energy, environment, etc. However, these materials are still very expensive, and can only be produced in relatively small quantities. In order to protect the nations critical infrastructure, such as buildings, bridges, tunnels, transportation systems, pipelines, power transmission and communication systems against natural (hurricane, flood, earthquake)andmanmade(blast,impact,fire)threats,weneedhugequantitiesof lowcostnanomaterials.Infact,notallnanomaterialsaremanmadeandexpensive: there are abundant, naturally occurring and low cost materials that are at or near nanosize,suchasnanoclay,volcanicandflyash,cellulosenanowhiskers,andmany carbonorsilicabasedminerals.Recentstudyofmechanicsatmicroandnanolevels has confirmed that the material behavior can be controlled by constituents at the nano size. Mixing a small quantity of clay, graphene, POSS, and carbon nanotube with polymers can significantly alter material strength and other mechanical properties. The strength of cement is strongly influenced by the packing of the calciumsilicahydrate gel at the micro level. Hence, with the understanding of material laws at the micro and nano levels, it may be possible to design infrastructure materials such as green concrete and building blast protection materialssuchasnanoparticleenhancedpolymersprayedonwalls.Thegoalsofthis researchgrouparetostudymultiscalematerialbehaviorandtoapplytheresearch outcomestoprotectthenation'scriticalinfrastructure. SampleResearchTopics: Moleculardynamicssimulationofconcrete,geomaterials,andnanocomposites. Continuumtheorybridgingmolecular,micro,macromechanics. Multiscalemodelingofcementitiousmaterials. Designofimpact,blast,andshockresistantsandwichcomposites. Nanoparticle reinforced polymer spray for concrete masonry unit blast protection. Earthquakeandblastresistantstructuralcomponentsandsystems. Fireresistantprotectivematerials. Particle,discreteelement,andmeshlessnumericalmodeling. Dynamic,impact,shocktube,andblastexperimentsoncomposites. RecentProjects: Nanoparticlereinforced composites for critical infrastructure protection, SoutheastRegionResearchInitiative,DepartmentofHomelandSecurity.Link BlastandimpactresistantcompositestructuresforNavyships,OfficeofNaval Research.

xGnP(exfoliatedgraphenenano particle)embeddedinvinylester

BlastexperimentofPOSSpolyurea retrofittedconcretemasonryunit.

LSDYNAsimulationshowingabuilding withoutnanoparticlereinforcement subjectedtoblast.

Agentbasedevacuationsimulationfor ananoparticlereinforcement retrofittedbuilding.

Structural, material, and geotechnical solutions for levee and floodwall construction and retrofitting, Southeast RegionResearchInitiative,DepartmentofHomelandSecurity.Link Dynamicresponseandsimulationsofnanoparticleenhancedcomposites,OfficeofNavalResearch. Stochasticmodelingofprogressivedamageinpolymerconcretecomposites,AirForceLab.

People: AhmedAlOstaz:Experimentalandcomputationalmechanics,nanocomposites,cementitiousmaterials,randomcomposites,multi scalemodeling,impactandblastloadings.Email:alostaz@olemiss.edu AlexanderCheng:Nanomechanics,poromechanics,meshlesscollocationmethod,porousmediumflow.Email: acheng@olemiss.edu,homepage:http://home.olemiss.edu/~acheng/ ElizabethErvin:Contact,impact,andblastdynamics,structuralhealthevaluation,experimentaltechniques,MultiFunction DynamicsLaboratory.Email:eke@olemiss.edu,homepage:http://home.olemiss.edu/~eke/ RajuMantena:Gridstiffenedandnanoreinforcedcomposites,impact/shock/blastcharacterization,vibrationsandexperimental modalanalysis.Email:meprm@olemiss.edu ChrisMullen:Nonlinearfiniteelementmodeling,earthquakeengineering,structuralengineering,progressivefailure.Email: cvchris@olemiss.edu ChungSong:Geonanomechanics,multiscalemechanics,coupledtheoryofmixtures,finitestrainplasticityofgeomaterials.Email: csong@olemiss.edu GeWang:Computationalmechanics,computationalfracturemechanics,computationalfluiddynamics,sedimenttransport, turbulentflow,atmosphericflow.Email:gewang@olemiss.eduhomepage:http://home.olemiss.edu/~gewang/ SelectedPublications: AlOstazA.,PalG.,MantenaR.P.,andChengA.H.D.(2008),MoleculardynamicssimulationofSWCNTpolymernanocompositeandits constituents,JournalofMaterialsScience,Vol.43(1),pp.164173. Mantena R. P., AlOstaz A., and Cheng A.H.D. (2008), Dynamic response and simulations of nanoparticleenhanced composites, CompositeScienceandTechnology(availableonline). AlzebdehK.I.,AlOstaz,A.,andAlkhateb,H.(2008),Parametricevaluationofprogressivedamageinpolymerconcretes:Size effectandstatistics,Vol.32(4),pp.336351. Alkhateb,H.,AlOstaz,A.,andAlzebdeh,K.I.(2008),Developingastochasticmodeltopredictthestrengthandcrackpathof randomcomposites,JournalofComposites:PartB(availableonline). Voyiadjis,G.Z.andSong,C.R.(2002),MultiScaleNonLocalApproachforGeomaterials,MechanicsResearchCommunications,Vol.29 (23),pp.121129. Song,C.R.,Wu,W.,AlOstaz,A.,andVoyiadjis,G.Z.(2008),EffectsofForceFieldinMolecularMechanicsSimulationofGeoMaterials, MechanicsResearchCommunications,submitted. Song,C.R.andVoyiadjis,G.Z.(2007),AnalyticalObservationofMicroMechanicalInteractionsinPlasticityofSaturatedSoils, InternationalJournalofPlasticity,inpress. Ervin,E.K.VibroImpactofTwoOrthogonalBeams,ASCEJournalofEngineeringMechanics,submitted. Wang,G.,AlOstaz,A.,Cheng,A.H.D.,andMantena,P.R.(2008),Hybridlatticeparticlemodeling:theoreticalconsiderations fora2Delasticspringnetworkfordynamicfracturesimulations,ComputationalMaterialsScience(availableonline). Wang,G.,AlOstaz,A.,Cheng,A.H.D.,andMantena,P.R.(2008),ParticleModelingofaPolymericmaterial(nylon6,6)dueto theImpactofaRigidindenter,ComputationalMaterialsScience(availableonline). Wang, G., Radziszewski, P. and Ouellet, J. (2008), Particle modeling simulation of thermal effects on ore breakage, ComputationalMaterialsScience,43,892901.

Morepublications:Link Links: DepartmentofCivilEngineering,UniversityofMississippi:http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/civil_eng/ Nanocompositeinfrastructureprotectionprojectsite:http://www.olemiss.edu/sciencenet/SERRI/ CompositeStructureandNanoEngineeringGroup:http://www.olemiss.edu/research/csnerg/composite/ MississippiCenterforCommunityEarthquakePreparedness:http://www.olemiss.edu/orgs/ccep/ MultiFunctionDynamicsLaboratory:http://home.olemiss.edu/~eke/MFDL.htm Contact:AlexanderCheng,Email:acheng@olemiss.edu