Grants and Awards:
American Chemical Society - Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) Grant, PRF# 60092-ND9, “Modeling of the Contact Angle Hysteresis and Wetting Properties of Oil Droplets on Textured Surfaces” (PI: N.V. Priezjev). Budget: $110,000 (2019-2022).
The proposed research addresses fundamental questions in the transport phenomena of polymeric liquids at structured and deformable interfaces. Molecular dynamics simulations will be carried out to investigate the effects of surface roughness, surface energy, re-entrant texture on hydrodynamic friction, wettability, and contact angle hysteresis of oil droplets. The results of these simulations will be useful for an optimal design of self-cleaning and nonfouling surfaces, novel porous filters, and modeling dewetting and stability of thin polymer films.
The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), “Developing Thermomechanical Processing Routes to Improve the Performance of Amorphous Alloys” (PI: N.V. Priezjev). Award: 200,000 resource units (RUs).
The macroscopic performance of metallic glasses can be significantly influenced by the amount of stored energy due to cold or hot working and cyclic loading. The proposed research seeks to determine the effects of thermal processing history on potential energy states of metallic glasses and establish a correlation between structure and mechanical properties using molecular dynamics simulations. In the research program, various thermal and mechanical treatments and their combinations will be explored to access a broad range of energy states of glassy materials and to investigate the atomic-level processes leading to structural changes. The outcome of the proposed research will be a set of optimal strategies to relocate metallic glasses to either relaxed or rejuvenated states with modified properties, such as yield strength and elastic moduli, that can used to guide experimental processing of amorphous alloys. These results will be further extended to examine the mechanical performance and processing of porous glasses with enhanced ductility.
National Science Foundation (NSF), Computer and Network Systems (CNS) Program, “MRI: Acquisition of High Performance Computer Cluster for Multidisciplinary Computational Research and Education” (PI: Sharma, co-PIs: Priezjev, Paliy, Sulman). Budget: $150,000 (2015-2018).
This award from the Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) will provide a Beowulf type High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster that will build and strengthen a robust computational research community at Wright State University (WSU). The proposed project strengthens WSUs cluster hiring initiative in computational STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research and education.
The broader impact of this project is the development of computationally skilled workforce by infusing computational education and research at the undergraduate and graduate level. A stronger computing community at WSU will lead to substantial collaborations with researchers in the Dayton region. This project will strengthen the partnership in computing education with the regional universities and two- and four-year colleges in the Dayton region. Providing access to the cluster will benefit their efforts to develop and deploy introductory computational courses thus broadening participation in the area of scientific computation and education.
National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET), Fluid Dynamics Program, “Influence of Confinement on Flow, Diffusion, and Boundary Conditions in Nano Channels: A Combined Quantum Dot Imaging and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Approach” (PI: N.V. Priezjev, co-PI: M.M. Koochesfahani). Budget: $360,000 (2010-2014).
As engineered systems below the micron scale become more viable for biological and chemical analysis and detection, the boundary condition at the liquid-solid interface plays an increasingly important role in fluid flow and transport of nanoparticles. Using quantum dot (QD) imaging as a tool for interrogation of flow and nanoparticle transport and diffusion within nano channels, we utilize a combined experimental and computational approach based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the fundamental principles of liquid flow, diffusion, and confinement in nano channels. Specifically, the aim is to interrogate the solid-liquid slip boundary condition based on the diffusive motion of QD nano- particles and at the same time answer the following questions: (1) How does confinement affect the thermal diffusive motion of a nanoparticle in equilibrium and in the presence of shear flow? (2) How do surface characteristics (nanoroughness and wetting) affect the slip flow in a confined geometry and the local mobility of a nanoparticle? Answers to these questions are important to designing chemo- and bio-sensing technologies that involve micro- and nano-fluidics.
Michigan State University, Strategic Partnership Grant (SPG) “Advanced Membrane Technologies for a Sustainable Future” (PI: V. Tarabara). Budget: $400,000 (2010-2013).
The proposed research aims to develop novel membranes and membrane systems for energy-efficient water purification and reclamation processes. We will combine nanotechnology and membrane science for the development of (a) energy-efficient catalytic technologies for water purification, (b) virus removal and detection for safeguarding drinking water supplies, and (c) methods for purification of waters polluted by oil at offshore platforms and during oil spills events, using superhydrophobic membranes. Each of these projects combines materials development to create new membranes with specific functions and fundamental engineering research to achieve the particular application. The proposed research will serve as a key stepping stone for developing linkages between the membrane, multiphase transport, materials science, and environmental microbiology communities at MSU to develop energy-efficient membranes and membrane processes for a suite of novel environmental technologies along the water-energy nexus.
U.S. Department of Education, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) “Enabling Technologies for Low-Energy, High-Efficiency Transportation” (PI: N.V. Priezjev) 2007.
Michigan State University proposes to enhance its teaching and research by recruiting, supporting, and graduating 6 additional domestic mechanical engineering (ME) doctoral students. The fellows will be recruited from domestic ME master’s students who meet the criteria for GAANN support. The long-term funding made possible by GAANN will allow Michigan State to recruit large number of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, notably African Americans, Hispanics, and other U.S. women. These junior colleagues will increase research capacity in the critical area of ultra high efficiency vehicles, with immediate and long-term local and national economic and security benefits. They will also enhance undergraduate education as teaching assistants and then faculty members, with enhanced skills due to achieving competency in the 5 core teaching areas identified by CIRTL. MSU’s GAANN fellows will have disproportionate impact nationally, as most will be members of underrepresented groups.