Research Projects

Composite materials are widely used in various industries due to their high strength, stiffness, and toughness, making them suitable for impact and shock conditions. They are commonly used in aircraft and spacecraft for structural components and armor and ballistic protection. However, they can exhibit complex behavior when subjected to shock waves, which are high-intensity pressure waves generated by various sources. Developing physics-informed coupled material models and characterization methods is challenging in applications involving extreme environments, nonlinearities, microstructural variability, and phase changes. To address this issue, a new development equipment, the Laser-Induced Particle Impact Test, combined with Mechanical Raman Spectroscopy (MRS), is proposed. This optical benchtop platform aims to quantify and develop failure/constitutive models of material with microstructures under complex extreme loading. Proper characterization of such materials is challenging due to the microscopic and often nanoscopic length scale of most mechanisms. Modern microscopy techniques are pushing the limits of observable length scales, but simultaneously measuring physical phenomena at small length and time scales is still a nascent problem. The Laser-Induced Particle Impact Test will allow researchers to identify critical stress/temperature distribution and microstructure at the nano- or micro-scale of length and time, which will prove useful in material design. The developed facility will also be applicable beyond the immediate field of material behavior, such as additive manufacturing and biomechanics.