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Spotlight Archive

Virtual Prototyping Using Augmented Reality

Digital prototypes are invaluable within the design and engineering of products. However, many people within industrial environments are intimidated by complex Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, or it is difficult for them to visualize the products being displayed three-dimensionally. The solution in the past has been to create a physical prototype for these individuals to allow them to experience the product physically for the evaluation. However, these physical prototypes are expensive in terms of labor and money. While physical prototypes will always have a place within manufacturing, the practice of making prototypes should be minimized wherever possible. One intermediary to facilitate the minimization of physical prototypes could be through the effective adaptation of augmented reality applications to allow novice CAD users to visualize a digital prototype within the context of the actual environment.

Computationally Inexpensive Reliability-Based Optimization

Reliability-based design optimization plays an increasingly important role in the design of advanced vehicular systems, ranging from automobiles to spacecraft. However, direct application of optimization techniques to reliability-based design is daunting as the reliability computation is very time consuming. Considering the fact that high-fidelity and complex computer models (e.g., crash simulations, see Fig. 1 on the Left) is required, computationally inexpensive models needs to be developed. Figure 1 shows a full frontal impact crash simulation. Finite element mesh is composed of 327 components, 320,998 nodes, and 582,541 elements. Simulation of 100 ms takes 10 hrs with 36 1.266GHz Pentium III processors.

Green is the New Black

Challenge X and the MSU Fashion Board is presenting an environmentally friendly fashion show, “Green is the New Black,” in the heart of the Cotton District at 5pm on Rue de Grande Fromage. The show’s purpose is to inform the public of eco- friendly options available in not only the world of fashion, but also in transportation. The models will be featuring the latest in organic and recycled clothing designs.

Students from Beijing Visit

A group of students from Beijing toured CAVS on the afternoon of February 22 to learn what the university has to offer to engineering students. The visiting students were in the United States to study English as part of the American Language and Culture Program. The students attend the Beijing Institute of Technology, and many of them are majoring in engineering. The students spent time touring the CAVS facilities and talking with researchers. MSU has an ongoing relationship with the Beijing Institute of Technology, and many of their students come to MSU to enter graduate programs.

Simulation-Based Design Optimization

Simulation-based design optimization has been playing an increasingly important role in the design of advanced vehicular systems ranging from automobiles to spacecraft. However, direct application of optimization techniques to simulation-based design becomes prohibitively expensive when the simulations involve high-fidelity analysis of complex computer models (e.g., crash simulations, see Fig. 1). A commonly followed practice is to use metamodels as surrogates to approximate the results of these expensive high fidelity simulations. However, the existence of so many different metamodeling techniques makes it difficult for an engineer to know which model is the best for a specific response.

A Multi-Scale Framework of the Plasticity: Method and Validation

A numerical and hierarchical multi-scale framework of plasticity for metals with a low Peierls stress (FCC metals) has been developed. The framework (see Figure) uses Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Discrete Dislocations (DD) to compute the material parameters of the hardening law used in a dislocation-based Crystal Plasticity Model (CPM). The drag coefficient, which captures the interactions between the dislocations and the phonons, is extracted from calculations at the lowest length scale (see Figure A) and then transferred hierarchically to the DD level, (see Figure B). With this information, DD is then used to simulate the evolution of plasticity, which results from the interaction of a large population of dislocations. Next, the material parameters embedded in the hardening law of the CPM (see Figure C) are computed using a fitting procedure based on both the functional form of the hardening law and the internal elastic stress / plastic shear strain fields computed from DD.

Bio-Inspired Protection Systems

One of the main objectives of this research is to understand material and geometric characteristics of various biological structural-materials, to assess the microstructure-property relations of such materials, and to apply its concepts to design and develop Bio-Inspired Armor Systems (BIAS) for military applications. This research nurtures ‘Biomimetics’, an interdisciplinary area of collaborations between Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Biology, which is inspiring novel design methodologies for structural materials. The innovative BIAS solutions provide a new paradigm for the development of state-of-the-art armor systems. This research can also be applicable to a wide range of industrial applications including armor systems, light weight vehicles, and energy absorption.

Powder-Metal Performance Modeling of Automotive Components

To evaluate the insertion of various lightweight materials in future component applications, math-based models for Powder Metallurgy (P/M) component design and performance prediction are developed and experimentally validated. The transition of current materials/design requirements to advanced structural P/M components has created a need to predict the properties of components in all sections of design. An existing math-based framework is extended with the abilities to predict P/M component structures and properties accurately throughout the compaction and sintering processes such as section size, density variation, dimensional tolerances, and potential for cracking; and with the input of alloys and process parameters such as machine functions, tool and powder temperatures, friction and pressure.

Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) Process

Recent innovations in digital design and manufacturing of advanced materials and components have stimulated an important growth of the solid freeform fabrication technologies in modern industry. The laser engineered net shaping (LENS) process is a particular example of these technologies that may preclude any part-specific tooling. The LENS process involves a high power laser beam irradiating flowing powdered metallic streams. From computer aided design solid models, three-dimensional components with gradients in compositions can be made line-by-line within an accuracy of 0.2 mm and a density close to 100%.

Weld Element Technology Development

Resistance spot welding is a common joining process used in automotive manufacturing, with thousands of spot welds in a single vehicle. When simulating the behavior of a vehicle under crash conditions, the mechanical behavior of the spot welds under the dynamic loading must be incorporated. Currently spot welds are simulated using a weld element based on a simple beam theory, and a next generation spot weld element is needed in which details of the welding process and the metallurgy of the parent material are reflected.

Highlights of CAVS Contributions in PowderMet 2007

PowderMet is the largest international conference and exhibition of P/M (powder metallurgy) held in North America. This year the conference was held in Denver, CO on May 13-16. Seven employees from Materials Processing Group attended this conference. Also, sixteen CAVS employees wrote 22 papers which cover 12% of total presentations in the conference. Co-authors were collaborated from 16 other institutes as well as 5 other countries, which show a strong and global network of CAVS in P/M field. All of the participants from CAVS included: Mr. Paul Allison, Dr. Antonyraj Arockiasamy, Dr. Randall M. German, Dr. Philip Gullett, Dr. Youssef Hammi, Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, Mr. Bohumir Jelinek, Dr. Seong-Gon Kim, Dr. Seongjai Kim, Dr. Sungho Kim, Dr. Seong-Jin Park, Mr. Travis Puzz, Ms. Tonya Stone, Mr. Kyle Thompson, Mr. Wesley Trim, and Ms. Laura Turcker. Click here to view a demonstration of a Kenics Static mixer with 8 helical elements that was demonstrated at the conference.

CAVS Hopkinson Bar System Established for High-Rate Testing

Challenge X Update

CAVS Challenge X team recently attended the year-end competition for Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility in Detroit, MI. The team has been re-engineering a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox for the past 3 years. The finale of the competition was held at an awards ceremony on June 7 where the MSU team took home the first place prize in the competition. The team also won several other awards during the competition, such as on-road fuel economy, best acceleration, drive quality, static consumer acceptability, and first place for the team's outreach program.

Safety Simulation (SafeSim) Center

CAVS has once again entered the competition vying for the $44 million National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center (ERC) funding. In 2005, we ended up as number seven, out of 116 research institutions across the country, and intend to bring home the prize this time. In this effort, we will focus upon Safety; safety in vehicles, safety in structures, and personnel safety, which led us to the name Safety Simulation (SafeSim) Center.

InSite and WBTShowcase

We are proud to announce the InSite Team has been selected to give a 3 minute presentation of the upcoming InSite Suite at the World's Best Technologies Showcase, held in Arlington, TX during May 15 & 16, 2007. It is an honor that InSite Suite has been selected out of the many emerging E-Learning technologies.

Law Enforcement Research Initiative

It isn't every day that you get to shoot at targets in a research lab. Researchers in the Human Factors and Ergonomics laboratory at CAVS are preparing to do just that. Law enforcement officers recruited from local, regional, and state institutions are being invited to participate in a series of experiments taking place at the lab this spring. The officers are going to be asked to perform a number of tasks wearing different types of body armor and carrying different types of equipment.

Raptor Cluster

CAVS's parent center the High Performance Computing Collaboratory has just installed a 2,048 processor computing cluster, named "Raptor," which is more than four times faster than the most powerful system currently housed at the site, an IBM model called "Maverick."

Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems