Events

Speaker:  Dr. Jose Andrade, Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, The California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Title of Seminar: “New trends in modeling granular media: Applications to geosciences and planetary exploration”

Abstract: Granular materials are the second most manipulated materials on Earth. This tendency increases dramatically when dealing with extraterrestrial applications. While relatively simple individually, collectively, granular materials exhibit complex mechanical behavior and are known for fluctuating between solid- and fluid-like behavior, depending on the situation (e.g., sand dunes vs. avalanches, inactive vs. active fault gouge). In this talk, we will describe the current trends in modeling the complex behavior of granular materials, both experimentally and computationally. Of particular interest will be the measurement of force chains in opaque, three-dimensional geo-materials and the multiscale simulation of complex granular structures under shear. Connections between these new tools and applications in geosciences and planetary exploration will be drawn. Of particular interest will be applications to rheology, grain fracture (e.g., comminution in fault gouge), and penetration and characterization of Martian regolith in the context of NASA’s upcoming InSight mission.

Biography:   José E. Andrade is the George W. Housner Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, the Cecil and Sally Drinkward Leadership Chair, and the Executive Officer of the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at Caltech. 

Dr. Andrade joined Caltech after four years at Northwestern University as an assistant professor in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. Andrade got his PhD in 2006 from Stanford University in the area of geomechanics. His research interests lie in the area of computational mechanics with application to problems at the interface of physics and mechanics to develop predictive analytical and numerical models for granular/porous materials (e.g., soils, rocks, foam, bone, etc.). A particular area of current interest is the study of granular materials under extreme environments for planetary science & exploration.

Prof. Andrade is the recipient of several honors and awards including the 2006 Zienkiewicz Medal in computational mechanics, the 2010 NSF CAREER Award, the 2010 Young Investigator Award from the U.S. AFOSR, the 2011 Arthur Casagrande Career Development Award from ASCE, and the 2016 Thomas Hughes Young Investigator Award from ASME. In 2013-2016 he served on a distinguished panel of 12 world experts for the U.S. National Research Council of the National Academies to understand the state of the art and practice of earthquake-induced liquefaction. Andrade also serves on the Science Team for the NASA’s InSight Mission to Mars in 2018. He is on the editorial board for some of the leading journals in the field. Andrade's work is currently funded by ARO, NSF, NASA, US DOE, and AFOSR.