In a world of constant evolution, cities stand at the forefront of change. The Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM) research team led by Dr. Ibrahim Odeh in collaboration with WGI Engineering, introduces the City Adaptability Index™. This innovative tool offers cities – big and small – a unique opportunity to measure their adaptability, ensuring they remain resilient and agile in the face of ongoing challenges and opportunities. Their effort in redefining urban landscapes has garnered global attention, with notable publications in the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Global Infrastructure HUB (GI Hub, a G20 Initiative), and the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The City Adaptability Index™ self-assessment tool is designed to gauge the city’s adaptability maturity, ensuring it’s poised to navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving landscape.
Damage in energetic material (EM) microstructures can result in off-design performance or even failure of devices critical to national security and safety. For EM-based systems to maintain robust performance over a wide envelope of operational conditions, microstructural damage must be predicted and its effect on energetic material sensitivity must be mitigated. Prof Addis Kidane and Prof Waiching (Steve) Sun will combine careful experimentation and first-principles physics-based multi-scale modeling to establish load-structure-damage-performance (L-S-D-P) linkages for pressed and plastic-bonded energetic materials.
The project includes three specific objectives: i) predict modes and distribution of damage at the micro-scale in an EM (herein PBXs, with varying binder fractions) as a function of T/S cycles; ii) model and predict damage evolution in the EM microstructure (meso-scale) when subjected to impact loads; and iii) correlate damage at the micro-scale to macro-scale performance delivered by the EM. This project is funded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (Award amount: $750,000; Sept 2022 – Aug 2024).