March 19, 2021
Recent mechanical and nuclear engineering publication recognized as journal editor's pick
Mechanical engineering doctoral candidate Tyler Albright and assistant professor Jared Hobeck's article titled "High-fidelity stochastic modeling of carbon black-based conductive polymer composites for strain and fatigue sensing" was selected as one of five editor's pick articles out of the 110 articles published in Springer's Journal of Materials Science, April 2021 issue.
The paper presents research being conducted by the Multifunctional Structures Lab in the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at K-State. Conductive nanoscale particles that are suspended in an insulating resin can form complex microscale networks that result in a conductive material with unique electrical and mechanical properties. This research seeks to develop a modeling framework and experimental procedures that will help us understand and predict the formation of these conductive pathways to tailor nanocomposite materials to have a desirable electromechanical response to strain and fatigue. These unique materials could be used by aerospace, automotive, and civil engineering industries to detect, monitor and diagnose structural damage at its earliest stages in mission-critical components thus increasing safety, reliability and performance while decreasing maintenance costs and downtime.
For a limited time, you can access a full-text of the paper free via Springer SharedIt.