Mentor
Dr. H. S. Udaykumar
Participation year
2009
Project title

Generation of 3D Microstructures

Abstract
 

Laboratory experiments are the basis of any branch of science.  Inability of performing an experiment could stand as a barrier for the advancement of a branch of science.  The two that contribute to this inability are cost and sensitivity.  It is the purpose of this research to enable scientists to perform experiments on the computer.  More specifically, it aims to simulate the flow of matter in various mediums.  It could be used to study many areas.  Some are the flow of red blood cells, oil extraction, and river flow.  Also, static particles such as granular microstructures could be examined as well.  In this research, a code is being developed to model ellipsoidal particles.  It uses Linear Algebra to define ellipsoids with an arbitrarily shape and size.  An algorithm has been created to generate many of those ellipsoids without intersecting.  Also, the volume fraction is calculated.  Using interactive plotting software (Tecplot 360), a 3D plot is obtained.  Many real life particles could be approximated with the shape of ellipsoids, like water for example.  Other particles such as red blood cells could be simulated in the same way, but a better understanding of its geometry is needed. 

Omer  Elgaali
Education
University of Iowa