Events Calendar

AME - Department Seminar

Speaker: Eric R. Homer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University

Talk Title: Computational Modeling of Amorphous and Crystalline Materials

Abstract: While the atomic-level processes regarding material behavior are often known, translating this knowledge to understand and predict material behavior at the macroscale can be a significant challenge. As such, computational materials modeling has emerged as a particularly useful tool to aid in the advancement of engineering materials. The work to be presented includes efforts to elucidate the phenomena controlling the mechanical behavior of amorphous metals as well as a method to simulate coupled compositional-microstructural evolution in crystalline materials.

Amorphous metals exhibit mechanical properties superior to their crystalline counterparts in many cases, but suffer from an inherent lack of ductility. This work provides new understanding of the shear localization process that ultimately leads to catastrophic failure. The insight is achieved through a through a new mesoscale model of amorphous metals that is capable of accessing experimentally relevant timescales. Additionally, a new Potts-Phase Field model for coupled composition-microstructure evolution is presented. The coupled model provides simultaneous evolution of grain structure and composition in a computationally efficient manner and promises to provide new insight into nuclear fuels research.

Biography: Eric R. Homer is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 2006 and a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010. Prof. Homer then spent one year as a postdoctoral appointee in the Computational Materials Science & Engineering at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM. He has 13 publications in the areas of the mechanical behavior of amorphous metals, microstructure characterization, atomic simulations and microstructural modeling.

Host: Dr. Oliver Franke

More Info: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/4-17-13-Homer.shtml

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - Room 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Kristi Villegas

Event Link: http://ae-www.usc.edu/seminars/4-17-13-Homer.shtml