College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Iowa State U, U of Iowa team up on energetic materials research project

Even though the Cyclones and Hawkeyes often duke it out on the field, court and mat, researchers from the two universities have come together to collaborate on a Department of Defense-funded project. The project, titled “3D-Printed, Hierarchical Polymer-Bonded Energetic Composites with Electromagnetically Switchable Porosity,” is being led by principal investigator (PI) Xuan “Sean” Song, assistant …Continue reading “Iowa State U, U of Iowa team up on energetic materials research project”

Engineers find thinner tissues in replacement heart valves create problematic flutter

Iowa State and University of Texas engineers have developed high-fidelity computational models of replacement heart valves to examine the performance of biological tissues built into the valves. They found that thinner tissues can flap and flutter, which can damage the valves and even the blood that flows by.

Simulating, assessing damage to brain cells caused by bubbles during head trauma

Researchers led by Nicole Hashemi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, are using their expertise with the manufacture of microstructures to study how the collapse of microbubbles within the skull can damage brain cells. Their research, which is supported by the Office of Naval Research, could lead to the design of better helmets.

OpenQBMM software simulates multiphase flow behavior

Alberto Passalacqua, associate professor of mechanical engineering and associate director of the Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education (CoMFRE), is leading the development of the software OpenQBMM at Iowa State.    OpenQBMM is an open-source multiphase flow computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software designed to simulate the behavior of flows with particles, bubbles, or droplets. …Continue reading “OpenQBMM software simulates multiphase flow behavior”

Using X-rays and high-speed imaging to examine sprays

Iowa State University is part of an inter-university research project examining the intricacies of sprays. Ted Heindel, Bergles Professor of Thermal Science and university professor in mechanical engineering, is the lead researcher at the Iowa State site. Within Heindel’s Experimental Multiphase Flow Lab, the researchers are using X-rays and high-speed imaging to experimentally study the …Continue reading “Using X-rays and high-speed imaging to examine sprays”

Synergy between research and application: Project collaboration with CoMFRE and student organization

We put a lot of things in a kitchen microwave, from Hot Pockets to leftover lasagna. But what about rocket propellant?

That’s essentially what Travis Sippel and his team are doing in a Young Investigator Project (YIP) with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. More specifically (and more safely), they are testing methods to dynamically control the combustion of a solid rocket propellant by applying microwave energy.

The intersection of research and education: New NSF award for Subramaniam

“We’ve been collaborating informally, just motivated by the science questions, without any funding for a year or so. As we were working out those science questions, we thought, ‘Hey, we should really move this forward,’” said Shankar Subramaniam, professor of mechanical engineering. Subramaniam and collaborators from Minnesota and Michigan recently received funding for a three-year …Continue reading “The intersection of research and education: New NSF award for Subramaniam”

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