Kmomeni's blog

A PhD position is open for summer or fall 2017 in Advanced Hierarchical Materials by Design Lab at Louisiana Tech University on multiscale modeling of materials for energy applications with emphasis on ferroic materials. The candidates must have earned a M.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering or related fields and have a solid background in theoretical and computational mechanics, specifically continuum mechanics and finite element modeling, and need to be familiar with a programming language (preferably C/C++).

A special issue of Journal of Nanomaterials is devoted to "Low-Dimensional Phase Transforming Materials" which obtained significant interests in the recent years. This topic covers a broad range of research such as 

A nanocomposite electrical generator composed of an array of zinc oxide nanowires is considered.
The electric potential distribution along zinc oxide nanowires is modeled using continuum
mechanics and Maxwell’s equations for the case of axial loading. A perturbation technique is used
for decoupling the constitutive equations. The governing differential equations are solved using a
finite difference method. It is shown that a gradient of electric potential exists along the axis of the
zinc oxide nanowires. Maximum and minimum values of electric potential exist at the extreme ends
along the nanowire length and have opposite signs. The positive and negative voltages are separated

I have formulated a shear-lag model for calculating the variation of stress along carbon nanohorns (CNHs), which are conical shaped wrapped carbon sheets, embedded in an epoxy matrix under axial loading.  I found that the stress distribution along the length of CNHs depends on the cone angle of these structures and maximum normal axial stress has a smaller value in CNHs compared to a carbon nanotube (CNT) with same cross-section as of the CNH's tip.  Furthermore, I read an article stating that synthesis of CNHs are easier compared to CNTs.  However, the only article I could f