Dr. Igor Berinskii’s group “Multiscale Mechanics of Solids” is looking for highly motivated students to provide research on computational mechanics of granular materials supported by the Ministry of Energy.
The work aims to develop a particle-based dynamical model of rock drilling to determine the parameters making drilling more effective. As particle methods are very time-consuming, the model will be implemented to be used on a graphic processor unit system to speed up the calculations. The model will be calibrated to describe the mechanical properties of materials of rock/soil and the inserts used in cutters. As a result, the optimized drilling regimes, and parameters of the loading on the drill bit including rotation speed, thrust, torque, and dynamic loading amplitude will be determined for different types of rock materials. Also, the wearing of the tool will be investigated to predict the optimal shapes of the inserts and the optimal loading in view of wearing.