Research Focus Area: Solid Mechanics

Research Subject: Advanced Mechanics of Cellular and Biological Materials

Keywords: Open cell foams, gradient theory, micropolar, biological tissue, hyperelasticity, FEA

Description:

Constitutive Modeling of Cellular Materials:
Cellular materials find important applications in the aerospace industry and automotive industry due to their good physical properties like high specific stiffness and high energy absorption capability. Current approaches that attempt to model these materials either assume regularity of cell size throughout the foam (analytical models) or account for cell size diversity in an inefficient and complicated manner (FEA). Our work hinges on the simplicity of an analytical model but is vested with the capability to account for foam cell size diversity. This is done by using the concepts of micropolar homogenization and micropolar mixture theory.  

Finite Element Modeling of Intraneural Ganglion Cysts:
Intraneural Ganglion Cyst is a condition of fluid accumulation within a nerve which renders it defunct. It is a painful and recurring problem for patients while its pathogenesis (evolution and propagation) is a quizzical one for clinicians. This ongoing work strives to model, using finite elements, a cyst in one of the branches of the common peroneal nerve, at the neck of the fibula. The idea is throw light on the propagation of intraneural ganglion cysts and effective means of prevention/treatment.