Research activity in the Mechanical Engineering department spans multiple areas including
aerospace, explosives, solid mechanics, thermal-fluid dynamics, composites, structural
health monitoring, aerial vehicle design, high strain-rate mechanical testing, robotics,
shock physics, computational modeling, sustainable infrastructures, and capstone design
education.
Faculty collaborate with each other as well as with researchers from other departments
such as Civil Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Business and Technology Management.
In addition, some projects involve external collaboration with researchers from the
national laboratories and small businesses.
Projects are funded by federal sources (DTRA, NASA, U.S. Navy, NSF), national laboratories,
and SBIR projects. The Mechanical Engineering department brought in the second highest
average research dollars per faculty member for FY ’19 among NMT academic departments.
Radiation Shielding with Fluid Filled Cellular Composite
Graduate Student: Gabriel Maestas PI: Dr. Ashok Ghosh Gabriel Maestas, a new NMT grad student who completed his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
at Colorado School of Mines, is currently investigating a Fluid Filled Cellular Composite
for radiation shielding properties. This composite material, developed by Dr. Ashok Ghosh, is based off the human skull structure, where skin layers of material
sandwhich a foam core whose interstitial space is filled with liquid. Prior research
shows that this structural material has great capabilities in high strain rate impact
resistance, acoustic and vibrational dampening, thermal management, and potential
in radiation shielding.
Figure: Layer Wise Fluence, from prior research
Made possible by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, Gabriel is working to explore
the observation that this FFCC can shield select portions of the radiation spectrum
on a layer-wise basis. This would allow the option of optimizing the FFCC material
to specific space missions, thus reducing the size and weight associated with radiation
shielding. This is of particular import for extended space travel, where current shielding
materials like lead and tantalum are bulky and heavy, reducing flight range.
Explosively-driven shock wave and fireball dynamics
Graduate and undergraduate students in Dr. Hargather's research laboratory are studying various aspects of explosively-driven phenomena. PhD student Kyle Winter
is completing his dissertation on the dynamics of shock wave reflection from solid
surfaces. Kyle's work is exploring the ability to predict shock wave reflection characteristics
and pressures based on free-air shock wave properties. This work is funded by the
US Air Force.
PhD students Christian Peterson and Veronica Espoinoza are analyzing explosively-driven
fireball expansion and turbulence evolution in unconfined and confined geometries.
Christian has developed image processing methods to extract the fireball surface from
schlieren images and is characterizing the evolution of the fractal order of the surface
as a measure of turbulent evolution. This project is funded by DTRA grant HDTRA-1-18-0022.
Reactive Nanocomposite Materials for Enhanced Lethality Kinetic Warheads
Graduate Student: Bradley Miller PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This project is measuring the fracturing and energy release of reactive material formulations.
The reactive material samples are launched using a propellant driven gas gun and impact
at supersonic velocities into rigid plates. Kolsky bar compression tests are used
to measure dynamic constitutive response and characterize fragmentation behavior under
dynamic loading.
Effects of solute atoms and precipitates on deformation and twinning response in MgAl
alloys
Graduate Student: Christopher Bond PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This project seeks to understand the effect of solute atoms and precipitates on the
dynamic failure response of a binary Mg Alloy. The experiments focus on high rate
tension tests using high-rate imaging at the microscale to directly observe the slip
trace and twin propagation.
Experimental investigation of shock and detonation propagation through two-dimensional
arrays of metal inclusions
Graduate Student: Noah Edwards PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This program is measuring shock propagation in optically clear materials with inclusions,
and working toward measuring shock to detonation transition in explosive materials
with metal inclusions. The work is developing optical diagnostics and measurement
capabilities and experimental data for computational code validation.
Systematic ICME approach linking feedstocks to additive manufacturing science
Graduate Student: Brandon Turner PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This project is using ICME approaches to develop AM feedstocks for use in Army mission
critical areas. My portion of the project focuses on Dynamic microscale characterization
of deformation mechanisms in AM fabricated alloys. Additionally, my group is using
laser spallation studies to evaluate feedstocks and fabrication methods for AM electronic
materials.
Laboratory Scale Stressed Target Visualization
Graduate Student: Dillon Mann PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This program is investigating shock propagation through transparent acrylic samples
simulating geothermal explosively-driven fracturing applications.
Fringe Projection Profilometry Applied to Measure High Rate Deformation Events
Graduate Student: Ernest Miramontes PI: Dr. Jamie Kimberley This project seeks to adapt the full field displacement measurement technique “fringe
projection method” to studig dynamic deformation events. The technique projects a
series of parallel light and dark lines (fringes) onto the surface to be measured.
Calculating the spatial phase differences between sequential images allows for a non-contact
measurement of out of plane displacement and shape.
Capstone to Work
NMT Students Involved: Sidhartha Arunkmar, Nicholas Alvarez, Amy Tattershall PI: Julie Ford The Capstone to Work project is an NSF-funded multi-institutional study investigating
the impacts of capstone design experiences on newly graduated engineers' first year
of work.
Machine-Learning for Physical Processes with Consideration of Constitutive Equations
NMT Students: David Kunkel, George Hoover PI: Dr. Donghyeon Ryu Dr. Donghyeon Ryu collaborates with Dr. Andy Huang at Sandia National Lab (SNL) for
an SNL Lab Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Accelerated Collaborative Research
Nucleus (ACORN) project, titled “Machine-Learning for Physical Processes with Consideration
of Constitutive Equations.” M.S. student George Hoover and an undergraduate student Mr. David Kunkel have worked
on this project for establishing a machine-learning (M-L)-based framework to derive
multi-physics constitutive equations for novel functional materials and developing
M-L damage diagnosis and prognosis approaches using a non-contact structural sensing
skin.
Acoustic Emissions Monitoring of Aerospace Systems: Soaring to New Heights of Safety
NMT Student: Savannah Bradley PI: Dr. Ebrahimkhanlou Savannah Bradley is a fourth-generation pilot whose passion for aerospace fuels her
research in the Visual and Acoustic Monitoring (VAM) Laboratory with Dr. Arvin Ebrahimkhanlou.
In conjunction with her work on the Corrosion Monitoring Design Team, she conducts
research that utilizes acoustic emissions data to monitor aerospace systems' structural
health.
Free flight density fields around ballistically launched projectiles
NMT Student: Jason Falls PI: Dr. Hargather Research can sometimes be monotonous, spending long hours in a lab trying to get calculations
and simulations just right. Research can also be getting to shoot a .50 caliber gun.
And .50 caliber guns are no joke, with the most well known one being the .50 Browning
Machine Gun.
