Engineering topics
Semeraro, Federico
Publications and source records attributed to Semeraro, Federico.
Microscale Analysis of Spacecraft Heat Shields
Imagine entering Earth’s atmosphere after returning from the outer solar system. A heat shield less than 2 inches thick protects you from temperatures up to 2,900° Celsius (5,252° Fahrenheit). Such conditions were experienced by NASA’s Stardust capsule during reentry in 2006. The only materials capable of providing the necessary protection are composites with complex microstructures. Evaluating these materials is difficult, requiring precise knowledge of their properties. To this end, NASA scientists are developing research codes to compute material properties and simulate ablation at the microscale using agency supercomputers. Utilizing these tools, along with experiments, researchers are working to push the limits of spaceflight, allowing for greater flexibility in future space missions.
Computation of Fiber Orientation in X-Ray Micro-Tomography Reconstructions
No abstract available
Computing the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Anisotropic Porous Media from Micro-Computed Tomography
No abstract available
The Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) Software for High-Temperature Microscale Modeling
No abstract available
Recent Developments to the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) Software
The Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software is a suite of tools for the analysis of porous materials and generation of material microstructures. From microstructural data, often obtained through X-ray microtomography, PuMA can determine a number of effective material properties and perform material response simulations. Version 2.2 includes capabilities for computing volume fractions, porosity, specific surface area, effective thermal and electrical conductivities, and continuum and rarefied diffusive tortuosity. PuMA can also simulate competitive diffusion/reaction processes at the micro-scale, such as surface oxidation. In this poster, recent advancements to the PuMA software are detailed, including the full refactoring of PuMA into v3.0, a new module to compute heat conduction in anisotropic materials, a particle method for simulating molecular beam experiments, a new finite-volume Laplace solver, complex fibrous material generation, woven material generation, and a coupling of PuMA with the DAKOTA software for advanced statistics.
Modeling the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Anisotropic Porous Materials
No abstract available
Microscale Modeling of High-Temperature Heat Transfer in Anisotropic Porous Materials
No abstract available