Computational Engineering
Along with theory and experimentation, computer simulation has become the third mode of scientific discovery. Tools like finite element analysis and uncertainty propagation allow our researchers to explore new frontiers in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, bioengineering, combustion, nanotechnology, materials modeling, design, and so much more. Using the data from thousands of simulations, they can construct models that will ultimately benefit people in real-world situations.
And there's no better place to explore that science than Purdue. We hosted the first computer science department in the country in 1962, and today, one of the top research supercomputer clusters in the country allows Purdue researchers to explore any possibility they can imagine.
Faculty in Computational Engineering
- Fluid dynamics
- Biomaterial
- Multiphase flows
- Non-Newtonian fluid dynamics
- Microfluidics
- Complex fluids
- Soft matter
- Adaptive structures
- Mechanical metamaterials
- Robotic materials
- Programmable structures
- Multistable structures
- Structural nonlinearity
- Elastic instabilities
- Structural dynamics
- Nonlinear vibrations
- Modeling of nonlinear systems
- Structural dynamics and localization
- Flow-induced vibrations
- Impacting systems
- Bifurcations and chaos
- Uncertainty propagation
- Inverse problems
- Propagation of information across scales
- Optimal learning
- Materials by design
- Soft hydraulics
- Fluid dynamics
- Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics
- Particulate and multiphase processes
- Computational and data-enabled science & engineering
- Scientific machine learning
- Nonlinear waves
- CFD of multiphase flows
- Turbulent gas-liquid flows
- Cavitation
- Heat transfer
- Composites materials design and manufacturing
- Sustainable and recyclable-by-design polymers and composites
- Polymer processing and characterization
- Composites recycling
- Hybrid manufacturing systems
- Multiscale modeling
- Damage mechanics
- Structural Dynamics and Control
- Cyber-physical Systems
- Machine Vision
- Real-time Hybrid Simulation
- Damage Detection and Structural Condition Monitoring
- Cyberinfrastructure Development
- Vibrations and nonlinear dynamics
- Smart material systems
- Non-pneumatic tires
- Optimization of mechanical systems
- Additive manufacturing
- Laser absorption spectroscopy diagnostics for gas temperature, pressure, velocity, and chemical species
- Laser-induced fluorescence and photophysics
- Non-equilibrium gases and reaction kinetics
- Hypersonic flows, shock waves, and detonation waves
- Combustion and propulsion
- Modeling and simulation techniques for multiphase and multiphysics problems using the phase-field method.
- Isogeometric methods with applications in fluid and solid mechanics.
- Modeling and simulation tools for several biomechanics problems, including tumor growth, cellular migration and blood flow at small scales.
- Computational methods for fluid-structure interaction, especially when the problem involves complex fluids.
- Predictive, multi-scale modeling and simulation of microstructure evolution in confined granular systems, with an emphasis in manufacturing processes and the relationship between product fabrication and performance.
- Application areas of interest include:
- (i) particulate products and processes (e.g., flow, mixing, segregation, consolidation, and compaction of powders),
- (ii) continuous manufacturing (e.g., Quality by Design, model predictive control, and reduced order models), and
- (iii) performance of pharmaceutical solid products (e.g., tensile strength, stiffness, swelling and disintegration), biomaterials (e.g., transport and feeding of corn stover) and energetic materials (e.g., deformation and heat generation under quasi-static, near-resonant and impact conditions, and formation and growth of hot spots) materials.
- Sustainable energy and environment
- Combustion and turbulent reacting flows
- Combustion and heat transfer in materials
- Biomedical flows and heat transfer
- Global policy research
- Computational solid mechanics
- Multiscale modeling of materials
- Finite Elements
- Dislocation dynamics
- Reliability of electronic interconnects
- Shock compression in solids
- Phase transformations
- Energetic materials
- Big data analysis and statistical machine learning
- Predictive modeling and uncertainty quantification
- Scientific computing and computational fluid dynamics
- Stochastic multiscale modeling
- Acoustic Source Modeling and sound field reconstruction
- Active noise control
- Room acoustics simulation and auralization
- Noise control treatments
- Human perception of noise
- Fluid dynamics
- Multiphase flows
- Monte Carlo methods
- Kinetic theory of granular flows
- Heat transfer in granular media
- Rarefied gas dynamics
- Boiling
- Condensation
- Two-phase Flow
- High heat flux
- Thermal management systems
- Cryogenic systems
- Space vehicles
- Lunar and Martian environments
- Microgravity
- Experiments on International Space Station
- Electronic cooling
- Energy storage and conversion (batteries, fuel cells)
- Mesoscale physics and stochastics
- Reactive transport, materials, processing, and microstructure interactions
- Scalable nanomanufacturing: lithography and imaging
- Optical and magnetic data storage
- Nanoscale energy conversion, transfer and storage for alternative energy
- Computational Design of Socio-Technical Systems
- Secure Design and Manufacturing
- Engineering Design by Self-Organized Virtual Communities
- Integrated Products and Materials Design
- Human Skill and Augmentation
- Collaborative and Hybridized Intelligence
- Deep Learning of Shapes and Computer Vision
- Human-Robot-Machine Interactions
- Making to Manufacturing (M2M)
- Factory of the Future and Robotics
- Manufacturing Productivity
- Simulations of nanoscale thermal transport
- Machine learning, optimization, and high throughput design
- Thermal management in electronics, space, and battery applications
- Transport phenomena in additive manufacturing
- Nanomaterials and devices for sustainable energy
- Contact mechanics
- Stresses, fatigue and friction of rolling/sliding
- Micro-mechanics of boundary and mixed lubrication regimes
- Spall initiation and propagation
- Surface science and damage
- Dynamics of ball and rolling element bearings and rotating systems
- Friction induced vibration and squeal in dry contacts
- Friction and wear of dry and lubricated contacts
- Virtual tribology
- Dry and lubricated fretting wear
- MEMS for in-situ monitoring of tribological contacts
- Discrete element modeling
- Design
- Large eddy and direct simulations
- Turbulent Combustion
- Thermoacoustics
- Non-linear acoustics
- Heat-and-mass transfer
- Physical oceanography and limnology
- Numerical methods for complex geometries
- Acoustic and elastic metamaterial
- Fractional calculus and fractional mechanics
- Theoretical and computational mechanics
- Machine learning applied to computational mechanics
- Quantum algorithms for computational mechanics
- Structural health monitoring
- Wave propagation, structural dynamics and vibration control
- Adaptive structures
- Electrochemistry, mechanics, interfacial chemistry, and kinetics in energy storage systems
- Advanced synthesis, processing, and characterization techniques for energy storage materials
- Atomistic-scale modeling of chemical and mechanical properties in energy storage materials
- Multi-scale and multi-physics based modeling of Li-ion batteries and fuel cells
- Laser additive manufacturing
- Ultrafast laser matter interaction
- Laser welding
- Laser assisted machining
- Laser shock peening
- Multi-physics, multi-scale modeling
- Micro-nano manufacturing
- Solid mechanics, multiscale and multiphysics modeling.
- Design of engineering material systems.
- Fracture and fatigue.
- Microarchitectured materials.
- Biomechanics of soft and hard tissues.
- Computational and experimental solid mechanics focused on fatigue, fracture, and multi-physics phase evolution problems
- Computational techniques including Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Isogeometric Analysis (IGA), geometric modeling, CAD and optimal design
- Heterogeneous Integration and Advanced Electronics Packaging with a focus on thermomechanical behavior, reliability, and electrical-thermal-mechanical co-design
- Measurement science and instrumentation
- Particle image velocimetry
- Quantification of uncertainty
- Multi-phase flows
- Flow induced vibrations and hydro-kinetic energy
- Biological flows
- Biofluid mechanics
- Biomedical cardiovascular devices
- Heart failure and diastolic dysfunction
- Discrete element method (DEM) modeling for particulate systems
- -- model development, e.g., fibrous particles, particle breakage, particle shapes
- -- application to manufacturing, e.g., storage and flow, blending, segregation, drying, coating, wet granulation
- Finite element method (FEM) modeling of powder compaction
- -- e.g., roll compaction, tableting, picking and sticking
- Multi-scale modeling (FEM combined with DEM) of powder dynamics
- -- model development and application to hopper flow, blending, and segregation
- Advanced electronics cooling and packaging technologies
- Phase-change transport phenomena
- Additive manufacturing of thermal management components
- Topological optimization and machine-learning-based design
- Thermal systems analysis for electrification and energy efficiency
- Microscale and nanoscale surface engineering for enhanced thermal transport
- Laser-matter interactions
- Laser-induced plasma and laser-plasma interaction
- Laser applications in manufacturing, materials processing, and other areas
- Image-based computational and experimental fluid dynamics for porous-media and biomedical flows
- Translational research integrating high-performance CFD, image-based and physics-informed machine-learning, and uncertainty quantification to address unmet clinical needs
- GPU-parallelized lattice Boltzmann method for DNS and LES of turbulence
- Micro-bubble coalescence and detachment in microfluidics
- Deformation, stress, plasticity, fracture
- Multiscale modeling, first-principles, molecular dynamics simulations, and finite element modeling
- In-situ experiments
- Mechanics of redox active materials - Li-ion batteries, Na-ion batteries, all-solid-state batteries
- Mechanics of polymeric materials - organic electrochromics, superelastic organic semiconductors
- Lithium-ion batteries
- Solid-state batteries
- In situ and operando characterization
- Modeling, simulation, and optimization of battery systems
- Micro/nano fabrication
- Micro/nano fluidics