On this episode I am speaking to Wenbin Yu, who is a professor at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Purdue University and CTO of AnalySwift, a provider of simulation software for composites. Wenbin has achieved many accolades in both the academic world and in the private sector, and is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His specialty lies in multi-scale modelling of materials and structures, a topic that we delve into throughout this episode. Material scientists are increasingly inventing materials that are designed from the ground up. This means they take some fundamental building block and then attempt to arrange this building block in an architected manner over multiple length scales.

The challenge with these multi-scale architected materials is that the global macro-scale behaviour is influenced by what happens at the micro-scale. And equally, macro-scale deformations can cause damage at the micro-scale. Therefore, modern computational models that are used to design aircraft need to account for what happens at these different length-scales. Traditionally, this is done by constructing different models for each of the length scales, but the problem with these approaches is that they are computationally inefficient. To overcome this, Prof. Yu has developed the Structure Genome, which allows engineers to efficiently aggregate information of the smaller length scales into models at the greater length scales. In this episode, Prof. Yu and I talk about:

the fundamental difference between a material and a structure
why multi-scale modelling is important for modern materials and structures
the Structure Genome
and how it is being applied to aircraft structures.

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This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and process visit SAMPE's website, or consider attending one of SAMPE’s conferences, such as CAMX, the largest and most comprehensive composites and advanced materials event for products, solutions, networking, and advanced industry thinking.

This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace.



Selected Links from the Episode

Prof. Wenbin Yu's webpage
Structures vs Materials—what is what?
And what is a composite material, exactly?
Multi-scale Modelling
The Mechanics of Structure Genome
The Structure Genome (AIAA Conference Paper)