USACM Student Chapter Seminar. Title: A micromechanical model of fracture in piezoelectric composites using a cohesive-zone phase field approach. Speaker: Dr. Saikat Dan

USACM Student Chapter Monthly Seminar.

Saturday, April 26, at 2PM - 3PM (Eastern time - New York). 

Speaker: Saikat Dan, Johns Hopkins University

Title: A micromechanical model of fracture in piezoelectric composites using a cohesive-zone phase field approach

ABSTRACT:  A novel finite deformation FE model is developed for coupled electro-mechanical response with crack evolution in heterogeneous piezoelectric composite microstructures. Fracture in these composites is driven by complex mechanical and electrical mechanisms leading to a set of strongly coupled, nonlinear governing equations. Crack propagation and interfacial decohesion in the presence of electro-mechanical fields are modeled by a unified phase-field model integrated with cohesive traction-separation laws, derived from a cohesive potential function at material interfaces. To incorporate different electrical crack face conditions, degradation functions are employed in terms of the crack phase-field order parameter. An adaptive wavelet-enhanced hierarchical framework is developed to improve computational efficiency of the coupled electromechanical-phase-field FE solver based on a phase-field error indicator. Numerical examples representing different failure mechanisms in heterogeneous piezoelectric materials and piezo-composite microstructures are solved to demonstrate the efficacy of the model.

Bio: Saikat Dan works as a computational mechanics engineer at Third Wave Systems, Inc. He is responsible for enhancing software products on machining applications with his knowledge and expertise in finite element analysis and material modeling. He holds a Ph.D from the Department of Civil & Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University where his research focused on developing digital twins for damage sensing across multiple length scales in piezo-composite materials. He received multiple student awards for this work and was recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineering and the International Society of Materials Modeling. Prior to graduate school, he worked at the Research & Innovation Center at the Indian Register of Shipping in Mumbai, India developing numerical methods for the large scale analysis of marine and offshore structures.

You can join via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82464478256?pwd=ZMkJVFdjMJzadgnVWFPqsdUSs4qTaY.1 (Meeting ID: 824 6447 8256/ Passcode: 003801).

Please forward it to anyone who might be interested. Additionally, the USACM Student Chapter is actively looking for passionate and dedicated individuals to join our leadership team as Executive Members or to serve as Local Chapter Chairs at their respective universities! This is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your leadership skills, network with senior members, and contribute to an exciting lineup of student-focused activities. Eligibility: Only students attending US universities. Please contact us directly (studentchapter [at] usacm.org (studentchapter[at]usacm[dot]org)) for further details or to express your interest.