Microscopic Process and Macroscopic Behavior of Material: Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

Dear Dr. Pang, Attached is the plain file of an abstract of my proposal in the requested format. Please let me know if you think that further revision is needed. Best regards, Bo Li -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proposal number: DMS-0072958. Principal investigator: Bo Li, Univ. of Maryland, College Park. Title of proposal: Microscopic Process and Macroscopic Behavior of Material: Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Proposal Abstract This project concerns the modeling, simulation, and analysis of a variety of microscopic processes and macroscopic behaviors of materials that in common involve phase transitions, multiple components and multiple scales, and moving interfaces. They include the epitaxial growth of semiconductor thin films, microstructural evolution of elastically stressed solids, and macroscopic properties of martensitic microstructures. The proposer will first continue and extend his work initiated during his participation in a DARPA/NSF VIP project to develop and improve continuum models for the epitaxial growth of thin films. In particular, he will carefully examine the effect of edge diffusion and kink convection as well as that of crystalline asymmetry and anisotropy to the thin film morphology and growth scaling laws. He will then develop hybrid numerical techniques that incorporate finite element methods and multigrid algorithms into level set formulations to simulate the three-dimensional evolution of stressed microstructures. He will finally expand his previous research to further investigate complex martensitic microstructures with an emphasis on the effect of applied stress to their formation, evolution, and stability. The design of innovative, intelligent, and high quality materials such as those to be studied in this project is essential to the advance of modern technologies. The success in such design demands greatly a deep understanding of the fundamental principles and basic mechanisms of the underlying physical processes and material behaviors. It is therefore the goal of this research to systematically develop rational scientific concepts and novel research techniques to accomplish such an understanding. The fulfillment of such a goal will potentially provide experimentalists with detailed information on controllable physical data, making possible the development of new and improved materials for applications in many modern technologies and industrials ranging from communication to aerospace to medicine. Highlighted by its nature of scientific integrity, on the other hand, this project will naturally foster and promote an interdisciplinary research that involves materials science, physics, applied mathematics, and high-performance computing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------