{"id":72591,"date":"2016-11-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-mechanical-engineering-professor-simulates-bomb-blasts-to-study-how-things-break-apart\/"},"modified":"2016-11-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T00:00:00","slug":"uri-mechanical-engineering-professor-simulates-bomb-blasts-to-study-how-things-break-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/11\/uri-mechanical-engineering-professor-simulates-bomb-blasts-to-study-how-things-break-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 mechanical engineering professor simulates bomb blasts to study how things break apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., Nov. 29, 2016\u2014How much force does it take to shatter a Humvee, a soldier\u2019s body armor, or a submarine?<\/p>\n

In his cavernous laboratory at the 溏心vlog免费B站, Arun Shukla\u2014the Simon Ostrach Professor of Mechanical Engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2014is finding answers to those questions and more as he studies how and why things break apart. His research is taking on greater importance and relevance during these turbulent times.<\/p>\n

A world leader in fracture and experimental mechanics, Shukla has been working with the American government since the early 1980s to create stronger materials that can withstand damage from explosions and other catastrophic events. Most recently, he has conducted experiments for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur objective is to find better ways to protect soldiers and civilians\u2014and make our infrastructure stronger and more durable,\u2019\u2019 says Shukla. \u201cAs the world becomes more violent, this type of research is crucial to make us safer.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

In his laboratory in the Kirk Center for Advanced Technology on the Kingston campus, he and his students\u2014undergraduates and graduates\u2014simulate bomb blasts and other explosions in two devices: a huge pressurized steel water capsule and a 33-foot aluminum shock tube.<\/p>\n

With that equipment he creates a controlled explosive environment so he can test how materials stand up to blasts\u2014and also ensure that his students are doing safe experiments.<\/p>\n

The shock tube simulates the rush of high-pressure gases from an exploding bomb to test materials. Helium is pumped into the tube to break a covering, then the gases race down the tube at three to four times the speed of sound and hit the material at the end.<\/p>\n

\"Estefany<\/a>
Estefany Mejia and Chris Salazar, undergraduates studying mechanical engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站, examine a shock tube with Arun Shukla, the Simon Ostrach Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University. 溏心vlog免费B站 photo by Nora Lewis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 7-foot-tall, 1,800-gallon water capsule simulates the pressure deep in the ocean to measure how underwater shock waves and explosions affect materials and structures at that depth.<\/p>\n

Both devices evaluate different materials and structures. With the shock tube, Shukla examined how blasts damage glass windows and buildings. That study was for Homeland Security. Using the tank, he is looking at how structures in submarines collapse from water pressure and blasts. The study is being done for the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n

Shukla built the shock tube with Carl-Ernst Rousseau, now chair of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站. Shukla designed the water capsule, which was built in Virginia and shipped to 溏心vlog免费B站 three years ago. Both devices loom large in Shukla\u2019s Dynamic Photomechanics Laboratory, where the equipment hums steadily as it readies for the experiments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis research equipment is unique and highly suited for studying catastrophic events,\u2019\u2019 says Shukla. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s engineering college is doing cutting-edge research that is highly valuable for the state, the country and the world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

His students agree: \u201cI feel lucky to be studying under Dr. Shukla,\u2019\u2019 says Helio Matos, of Fall<\/strong> River, Mass<\/strong>., a doctoral student in mechanical engineering whose dissertation involves experiments he\u2019s done with the water capsule. \u201cThere is no better place in the world to do the kind of research we do, especially underwater structure analysis. The research is far-reaching and rewarding.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The tests often last less than one millisecond, so three high-speed cameras that can take photos ranging from 30,000 to 200 million frames per second record the action. \u201cThis allows us to see the event, as it evolves, in slow motion,\u2019\u2019 says Shukla.<\/p>\n

His team examines the photos to understand how damage happens and how it can be prevented. Sensors on the shock tube and tank also pick up high pressures generated by the blast. Those results are analyzed on computers.<\/p>\n

His list of sponsors is long\u2014and impressive. Besides Homeland Security and the U.S. Office of Naval Research, he has collaborated with the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n

For the U.S. Air Force, he examined how energy from explosions travels through the ground in a quest to figure out how a blast affects underground silos. For several years, he\u2019s been studying how metals in supersonic jet planes fare under extreme temperatures and pressures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to create a metal that will allow planes to fly extremely fast,\u2019\u2019 says Shukla. \u201cThe challenge is that metals get very hot and melt under extremely high velocities.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Growing up in Lucknow, a city in northern India, Shukla enjoyed tinkering with mechanical toys as a child, an interest that took him to the Indian Institute of Technology, the top engineering school in the country at the time. After graduating in 1976 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering, he travelled to the United States to study at the University of Maryland in College Park, where he earned his doctorate, also in mechanical engineering.<\/p>\n

He joined 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1981 as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 1988. In 2000, he was appointed to his current position. Over the years, he\u2019s written and edited 10 books, authored more than 350 papers and won numerous awards. In 2011, he was the Clark B. Millikan Visiting Professor at the California Institute of Technology. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Engineering in 2015, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2011. He lives in Wakefield<\/strong> with his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel privileged to be at 溏心vlog免费B站,\u2019\u2019 Shukla says. \u201cI thank the state and the University for all the support they\u2019ve given me over the years. I plan to continue my important research to make the world a better place.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., Nov. 29, 2016\u2014How much force does it take to shatter a Humvee, a soldier\u2019s body armor, or a submarine? In his cavernous laboratory at the 溏心vlog免费B站, Arun Shukla\u2014the Simon Ostrach Professor of Mechanical Engineering at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2014is finding answers to those questions and more as he studies how and why things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}