Abdel E. Bayoumi - US grants

This award is partial funding for the purchase of a high power copper vapor laser for use as a source of illumination for imaging various rapid processes. The major project involves particle dispersion in turbulent shear flows. Other uses include investigating the structure of burning liquid pools and the chipping and tool wear processes during machining. The major project should help clarify the role of particle inertia on the transport properties of small particles in turbulent flows. Mixing of powders and sprays is important in many combustion and gas- solids contacting processes.

The research work will examine the mechanics of superplastic deformation with the intent of providing broadly applicable flow rules for use in the modeling of the superplastic forming process. Such a model can be used to devise processing methods which increase the productivity of the superplastic forming process and increase its range of application. The research study is a comprehensive one, including aspects of strain-rate path effects, anisotropy, grain coarsening, cavitation and interfacial friction modeling. The project involves verification of the research models in laboratory tests and in tests on production equipment in industry. Superplastic forming is used to shape high performance alloys in aerospace application and will find increased use in its applications to the forming of titanium aluminides and other, "next generation" aerospace materials. Better understanding of the behavior of materials during superplastic forming will allow the fabrication of high performance parts at lower cost and with higher reliability.

9904493
Giurgiutiu

Description: This award is to support a collaborative project by Drs. Victor Giurgiutiu and Abdel Moez Bayoumi, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina and Dr. Yehia A. Bahei-El-Din, Structural Engineering Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. They plan to develop composite panels with integrated sensors for damage detection of structures. Specifically they plan to develop and calibrate wafer sensors, design, analysis and fabrication and calibration of smart composite panels, examination of the interaction between the embedded sensors and the containing matrix and its effect on the relayed signals, and instrumentation, testing and damage monitoring of full-scale structure members. The novelty of the research lies in the electromechanical sensing technique for assessing structural integrity. This approach offers several advantages of existing techniques and is the subject of developing interest in the adaptive structures community. Electromechanical Impedance techniques for monitoring structural health are a recent development gaining interest in the adaptive structures community. This approach offers several potential benefits over current inspection techniques.

Scope: The proposal has high intellectual merit, and the research plan is well organized. There is a need for data from large scale testing, of the type described in this study, to validate smart composite concepts. Bayoumi and Giurgiutiu have worked in the field of smart materials and composites for several years and have published in this area. Bahei-El-Din adds the structural engineering credentials that are important to successful completion of this study. Graduate research assistants from both universities will collaborate on the research, and will gain experience in international scientific activities. This proposal meets the INT objective of supporting collaborative research in areas of mutual interest. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.