Computational Materials: Peridynamics & Solid-Fuel Void Closure

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Elijah Hinton

OVERVIEW

Developing a high-fidelity peridynamics workflow to investigate void closure and damage sensing in solid rocket fuel geometries. The simulation pipeline converts high-resolution microstructure images into particle-based discretizations (hundreds of thousands of particles) for large-scale peridynamic analyses executed on remote computing clusters. Post-processing and visualization are conducted in Tecplot, with MobaXterm supporting remote computing and data management. The long-term goal is to design a “nervous system” of carbon nanotubes within the solid fuel that detects internal damage via electrical resistance changes—enabling early diagnosis of microstructural degradation in otherwise opaque energetic materials.

HighlightS

  1. Automated particle-generation pipeline: Built a MATLAB script that converts microstructure images into particle clouds suitable for peridynamics input, supporting variable resolution and refinement near void regions.
  2. Remote high-performance simulation setup: Configured and executed large-scale peridynamics simulations through MobaXterm, managing resource allocation, file transfers, and post-run data retrieval.
  3. Advanced visualization and data analysis: Utilized Tecplot to visualize deformation fields, track void closure progression, and quantify internal stress distributions across time steps.
  4. Material sensing study: Modeled the mechanical behavior of carbon-nanotube-embedded solid fuels under compression to analyze how structural damage influences resistance pathways.
  5. Scalable workflow development: Documented and modularized the full data preparation, simulation, and visualization pipeline to enable reproducible future studies and parameter sweeps.

SKILLS

MATLABPeridynamics ModelingMaterial MechanicsTecplot VisualizationRemote Computing
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Elijah Hinton

Aerospace Engineering Student

I am an aerospace engineering student at Virginia Tech with hands-on experience in structural design, computational modeling, and manufacturing. I lead interdisciplinary teams on complex projects including amphibious seaplane design and orbital launch vehicles. My expertise spans CAD design, finite element analysis, composite materials, and rocket systems. I combine technical skills with strong leadership abilities, having mentored students and managed cross-functional engineering teams while maintaining a 3.49 GPA.