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Research Projects Supported by HKU's High Performance Computing
Facilities |
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Researcher: |
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Professor A K Soh, Department of Mechanical Engineering |
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Project Title: |
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Mechanics of Ultra-thin Films and Nanolaminate |
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Project Description: |
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Due to the wide applications of ultra-thin films and nanolaminates in
nanoelectronics, NEMS, information storage devices, sensors and
electro-optic devices, it is desirable to have nanoscale continuum theories
that can overcome some limitations of the atomistic studies concerning both
time (10-12~10-9s) and length (10-9~10-6m) scales. The nano-thin films and
nanolaminates have a plate-like geometry. Although their thickness dimension
is of nanoscale or atomic scale, in which the continuum theories cannot
account for the discrete nature of the cross section, their remaining
dimensions are far larger than nanoscale and, thus, a continuum treatment in
these dimensions can be undertaken. Considering these characteristics, one
important objective of the proposed research is to develop modeling and
simulation methods for derivation of continuum theory from the atomic
theory, and to provide a methodology for direct passage from the atomic to
continuum theory applicable to cases in which one or more dimensions of the
body are much larger than atomic scale. Another major objective is to set-up
innovative experiments, which directly reveal the material behavior at
different length scales, for validation of these methods. The success of
this project will not only lead to a robust and efficient means to study
nanotubes and their applications, but also provide an approach to study some
important nanostructures by continuum mechanics. |
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Project
Duration: |
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2 years |
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Project Significance: |
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Nanotechnology is now recognized as the most important technological area
critical to the electronic, information, aerospace and defense industries,
and thus to the economic well being in this century. This technology will
lead to unparalleled improvement in the standard of living. Successful
design and manufacturing of nanoscale devices and systems must involve
concerted efforts in nanoscale modeling and simulation. The proposed
research will have significant academic and industrial impact on the current
pursuit of nanotechnology because of its unique methodology for predicting
nanoscale mechanical properties of ultra-thin films and nanolaminates. The
conventional continuum methods are unable to explain the experimental data
and are inadequate for nanoscale modeling. This project proposes a novel
methodology combining the main features of continuum and atomistic
approaches, and has a high potential to become a practical tool of analysis
for engineers. This project will not only provide the industry with a
theoretical tool to analyze elastic deformation mechanisms and to predict
mechanical properties based on the state-of-the-art knowledge of nanoscale
modeling and simulation, but will also provide a prototype example of an
effective linkage between continuum and atomistic theories. The framework of
continuum-atomistic linkage will have far-reaching significance in nanoscale
engineering analysis. |
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Results
Achieved: |
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Two journal papers, one in Key Engineering Materials and the other in
International Journal of Nonlinear Sciences and Numerical Simulation, have
been published, and 2 conference papers have been presented. In addition, 2
Journal papers have been submitted for possible publication. |
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Remarks on the
Use of High Performance Computing Cluster: |
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Since molecular dynamics (MD) simulations involve modeling of the
interaction between multi-millions of atoms or molecules, huge RAM space is
required to perform a practical computer simulation. Moreover, the time
steps for calculating the motions of these atoms or molecules are very small
(typically 10-14 sec.). Therefore, many high-speed parallel processors are
required for tens of hours of calculation to perform a single run.
Obviously, HPCC is able to help by lifting the time limit per run |
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Email Address: |
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aksoh@hkucc.hku.hk |
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