Efficient designing of porous media and metamaterials with multiscale modeling
Renan Liupekevicius Carnielli defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Mechanical Engineering on April 1st.
As society transitions to more efficient and sustainable technologies, there is an increasing demand for lightweight materials with superior performance. Acoustic materials are very promising in this area because they reduce noise pollution, improve energy efficiency, and enable smarter designs in industries such as transportation, healthcare, construction, and semiconductor manufacturing. However, designing engineering devices with these complex materials requires advanced modeling techniques to predict and optimize their behavior effectively. In his PhD research Renan Liupekevicius Carnielli focuses on improving computational efficiency with multiscale computational models for wave propagation in porous materials and metamaterials. The results of this research make it easier to design and use these kinds of innovative materials.
Porous materials and metamaterials can control, steer, and reduce noise and vibrations in ways that conventional materials cannot. Traditional simulation methods often struggle with the complexity of these engineered materials, making design iterations inefficient. Renan Liupekevicius Carnielli introduces novel homogenization frameworks that simplify simulations while maintaining accuracy to address this issue. The models that resulted from this research make it possible to characterize the mechanical response of porous media and metamaterials. Next to that Renan Liupekevicius Carnielli developed code prototypes during his research that can be used for potential future industrialization of the predictive technology. This open-access content is meant to encourage sharing and adaptation in academia.
Enabling the use of innovative materials
The tools and insights from this research can be used to improve computational efficiency, which enables the design of soundproofing materials, vibration-isolation structures, and next-generation acoustic metamaterials at both small and large engineering scales. Additionally, the research provides a deeper understanding of how materials behave on a larger scale. This knowledge helps to solve problems that are too complex to model using traditional methods. It also enables the design of materials that achieve specific desired behaviors and the exploration of disruptive sound insulation technology. These advancements make designing innovative materials and solving real-world engineering challenges easier and less computationally expensive.
This research is done within the research school Engineering Mechanics (EM).
Title of PhD thesis: . Promotors: Associate Prof. Varvara Kouznetsova and Prof. Marc Geers. Co-promotor: Associate Prof. Hans van Dommelen.