The University of Miami’s College of Engineering has been awarded a five-year, $421,000 grant from the newly established National Hypersonic Science Center for Hypersonic Materials through Teledyne Scientific and Imaging to work collaboratively with other research teams in the area of hypersonic materials and structures.

Qingda Yang, principal investigator and professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, will lead UM engineering researchers in a joint effort with teams from other institutions to develop hypersonic materials and structures, such as those used for thermal protection of space vehicles during reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

The new center, jointly supported by NASA and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, is led by Teledyne Scientific and Imaging LLC, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, and includes research teams from six renowned universities: the University of Miami, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Colorado at Boulder, Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Texas at Arlington.

“This award demonstrates yet another example of our national standing as a major research university,” says James M. Tien, distinguished professor and dean of the College of Engineering. “Dr. Yang and his expert team will greatly contribute to the research mission of the center and to synergistic collaborations with its partner institutions.”

The researchers will develop innovative materials with complex hierarchical micro-structures that can survive extremely high-temperature environments for a sustained period of time. They will also establish a novel methodology called “virtual testing” for future design of new complex materials.

This new methodology will have a significant impact on future materials and structural design because it offers the potential to reduce physical testing effort by 90 percent in new material development, according to Yang.

“The virtual testing for complex high-temperature materials is different from existing physical testing-based empirical methodology,” says Yang. “The new methodology could result in substantial cost savings and lead-time reduction in materials and structural design.”

The UM team will focus on the development of essential numerical capability based on multi-scale modeling to accurately model and predict the mechanical behavior of such materials.

The grant provides an invaluable opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Engineering to work hands-on with essential research and development.