Case Studies in Using MATLAB to Build Model Calibration Tools for Multiscale Modeling

This chapter illustrates the versatility of MATLAB for building interactive end-user software applications to support the pedagogy of a multiscale modeling approach to computational materials engineering. The case studies presented here demonstrate how preexisting codes that model complex material behavior, even if written in compiled computer languages such as Fortran or C++, may be utilized as computational libraries for model calibration software tools built with MATLAB. Intended for students in computational engineering (mechanics and materials), these tools execute on personal computers without MATLAB if the MATLAB Runtime shared libraries are installed. Publications coauthored by students using these tools to calibrate material models and to investigate the performance of engineering materials indicate that the tools enable advances in engineering design from a computational engineering perspective

Parallel Adaptive Quantum Trajectory Method for Wavepacket Simulations

Time-dependent wavepackets are widely used to model various phenomena in physics. One approach in simulating the wavepacket dynamics is the quantum trajectory method (QTM). Based on the hydrodynamic formulation of quantum mechanics, the QTM represents the wavepacket by an unstructured set of pseudoparticles whose trajectories are coupled by the quantum potential. The governing equations for the pseudoparticle trajectories are solved using a computationally intensive moving weighted least squares (MWLS) algorithm, and the trajectories can be computed in parallel. This paper contributes a strategy for improving the performance of wavepacket simulations using the QTM. Specifically, adaptivity is incorporated into the MWLS algorithm, and loop scheduling techniques are employed to dynamically load balance the parallel computation of the trajectories. The adaptive MWLS algorithm reduces the amount of computations without sacrificing accuracy, while adaptive loop scheduling addresses the load imbalance introduced by the algorithm and the runtime system. Results of experiments on a Linux cluster are presented to confirm that the adaptive MWLS reduces the trajectory computation time by up to 24%, and adaptive loop scheduling achieves parallel efficiencies of up to 85% when simulating a free particle

Experiments and Modeling of Fatigue Behavior of Friction Stir Welded Aluminum Lithium Alloy

An extensive experimental and computational investigation of the fatigue behavior of friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminum–lithium alloy (AA2099) is presented. In this study, friction stir butt welds were created by joining AA2099 using two different welding parameter sets. After FSW, microstructure characterization was carried out using microhardness testing, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. In particular, the metastable strengthening precipitates T1 (Al2CuLi) and δ’(Al3Li) seen in the base metal were observed to coarsen and dissolve due to the FSW process. In order to evaluate the static and fatigue behavior of the FSW of the AA2099, monotonic tensile and fully-reversed strain-controlled fatigue testing were performed. Mechanical testing of the FSW specimens found a decrease in the ultimate tensile strength and fatigue life compared to the base metal. While the process parameters had an effect on the monotonic properties, no significant difference was observed in the number of cycles to failure between the FSW parameters explored in this study. Furthermore, post-mortem fractography analysis of the FSW specimens displayed crack deflection, transgranular fracture, and delamination failure features commonly observed in other parent Al–Li alloys. Lastly, a microstructurally-sensitive fatigue model was used to elucidate the influence of the FSW process on fatigue life based on variations in grain size, microhardness, and particle size in the AA2099 FSW