Form 9.B Project Summary

Chron: 972610

Proposal Number: 20.04-8628A

Project Title: A Robust COnstitutive Material PARameter Estimator (COMPARE) for Characterizing General Nonlinear Material Models

Technical Abstract (Limit 200 words)

The DIAgnostic and integrated Problem Solving (DIAPS) Engineering team proposes to develop an automated, systematic, and computationally effective methodology to estimate material parameters for characterization of general compressible/incompressible mathematical material models for large deformation schemes (e.g., hyperelasticity, elastomeric foam behavior). Such constitutive models often require a large number of material constants to describe a host of physical phenomena and complicated deformation mechanisms. Extracting such material parameters for a model from the volumes of data generated in the test lab can be a frustrating task. The integrated COnstitutive Material PARameter Estimator (COMPARE) will enable the design engineer to predict an optimum set of material parameters by minimizing errors between the experimental data and the predicted response. The key ingredients of COMPARE are: (i) primal analysis tools (response functionals) for the differential form of constitutive models, (ii) sensitivity analysis, (iii) optimization of an error/cost function, and (iv) a graphical user interface. COMPARE formulates the material parameter extraction problem as a minimum-error, weighted, multi-objective optimization problem. Preliminary results from test data analysis of a certain class of viscoplastic and hyperelastic materials clearly demonstrate the great potential for COMPARE as a tool for material parameter estimation.

Potential Commercial Applications (Limit 200 words)

Demand for an automated material parameter estimator would be enormous in those industries that look to the finite element method to support product design. The most efficient means of bringing COMPARE to market , therefore, would be to offer it through those companies which specialize in developing finite element codes. We envision companies like the MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (and their MSC/NASTRAN code) as our primary target for commercialization.

Name and Address of Principal Investigator (Name,

Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)

Wiley Graf

The University of Akron

Department of Civil Engineering

Akron , OH 44325

Name and Address of Offeror (Firm Name, Mail Address,

City/State/Zip)

Atef Saleeb

Diagnostic and Integrated Problem Solving Engineering,

L.L.C.

691 Deerwood Dr

Tallmadge , OH 44278