research

For my graduation work (student at the Delft university of Technology, The Netherlands), I am trying to model the aeroelastic behavior of a wind turbine rotor. For this end I use an Abaqus model of a wind turbine blade (which is a composite structure with different fiber layers and corresponding orientation). The aerodynamic force is calculated by a BEM code (Blade Element Momentum theory), which is a simplified engineering aerodynamic code: fast but still quite good. Using CFD to calculate the loads is out of the question since it requires far too much time to calculate.

The ability to control the domain patterns in ferroelectric nanostructures holds promise as a method to tailor physical properties for specific applications. We proposed a new way to control the domain patterns in ferroelectric nanostructures. Desirable domain patterns can be obtained through different surface charges. The surface charges can be supplied by the atomic and molecular adsorbates on the surfaces of ferroelectric nanostructures.

The deadline for abstracts for the 21st Annual Melosh Competition has been extended until January 30.  All interested graduate students are encouraged to apply.

 This competition for the Best Student Paper in Finite Element Analysis will be held at Duke University on Friday, April 24, 2009.  The competition has become one of the premier graduate student events in the broad area of computational mechanics.