You're invited to a seminar with Dr. Vivek Khare, a postdoctoral researcher in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Central Florida, titled "High-Throughput and Non-Destructive Assessment of Materials and Aerospace Structures."

Abstract: Lightweight materials and structures have gained significant attention across aerospace, automotive, civil, defense, and space exploration applications. Micro air vehicles, deployable and inflatable structures, and super-pressure balloons in low earth orbit and space missions exemplify noteworthy advancements in aeronautics and astronautics. Deployable and inflatable structures offer significant reductions in mass and volume, high packaging efficiency, and can be stowed in the small volume of satellites. Operating in extreme conditions, these structures face challenges such as shape and size instability, sometimes leading to barely visible flaws and damage. This necessitates multifaceted experimental efforts, structural assessment, and intricate inspection tasks.

This talk will first introduce theoretically supported novel and adaptive experimental methods for composites and ultrathin films used in space and aerospace structures, covering rigorous characterization for thermo-mechanical, aero-structural, and structural dynamic properties. The methods dramatically reduce experimental efforts and offer a high degree of accuracy. Secondly, aero-structural assessment techniques, from in-house studies to wind tunnel scale testing, will be presented.

Additionally, a non-destructive methodology for structural inspection will be outlined, offering insights into the complexities of these materials and concrete solutions using multiphysics coupling. Finally, future emerging approaches towards the design, development, and assessment of multifunctional materials and structures for space exploration will be discussed.

Biography: Dr. Vivek Khare is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and a Senior Research Associate at the National Wind Tunnel Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering, specializing in Aerospace Structures from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. During his PhD and Postdoc, he led several sponsored projects from American and Indian space agencies, including NASA-JPL, NASA-GSFC, NASA-LRC, ISRO, VSSC, and ADRDE. He obtained his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering in India. He is the recipient of the Academic Excellence Award for securing 3rd rank in the University Merit list during his Bachelor’s. His research interests lie in lightweight materials and structures, deployable space structures, novel and adaptive experimental methods, aero-structural evaluation, wind tunnel testing, and structural health monitoring. He has more than 20 publications in reputed journals and conference proceedings.