#18 – Prof. Wenbin Yu on the Structure Genome

On this episode I am speaking to Wenbin Yu, who is a professor at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Purdue University. Wenbin has achieved many accolades in both the academic world and in the private sector, and is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His specialty lies in multi-scale modelling of materials and structures, a topic that we delve into throughout this episode. Material scientists are increasingly inventing materials that are designed from the ground up, meaning they take some fundamental building block and then attempt to arrange this building block in an architected manner over multiple length scales.

The challenge with these multi-scale architected materials is that the global macro-scale behaviour is influenced by what happens at the micro-scale. And equally, macro-scale deformations can cause damage at the micro-scale. This means that modern computational models that are used to design aircraft need to account for what happens at the different length-scales. Traditionally, this is done by constructing different models for each of the length scales. The problem with these approaches is that they are computationally inefficient and it's not always obvious where each of the length-scales begins and ends. To overcome this, Prof. Yu has developed the structure genome, which allows engineers to compute mathematically where each length scale begins, and to then aggregate information of the smaller length scales into models at the greater length scales. In this episode, Prof. Yu and I talk about

• the difference between a material and a structure
• why multi-scale modelling is crucial for modern materials and structures
• the structure genome
• and how it is being applied to aircraft structures.

If you want to learn more about the topics discussed in this episode, then you can find show notes with links to more in-depth material on the aerospace engineering blog. If you want to support the show then please leave a review; share it on social media with your friends and family; or support us directly on Patreon. Thanks a lot for listening!

This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and process visit SAMPE's website, or consider attending one of SAMPE’s conferences, such as CAMX, the largest and most comprehensive composites and advanced materials event for products, solutions, networking, and advanced industry thinking.

This episode is also sponsored by StressEbook.com, which is an online hub for you if you are interested in aerospace stress engineering. StressEbook.com provides world-class engineering services and online courses on the stress analysis of aircraft structures, as well as a free ebook and blog. No matter if you’re a junior or senior structural analyst, stressEbook.com provides you with the skills and know-how to become a champion in your workplace.