URI Professor Arun Shukla helps
military create bomb-resistant materials
Left to right: Jefferson Wright and
Helio Matos, who are earning their doctorates in mechanical engineering at URI,
examine a pressurized water capsule with Arun Shukla, the Simon Ostrach
Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University. URI photo by Nora Lewis.
How much force does it take to
shatter a Humvee, a soldier’s body armor, or a submarine?
In his cavernous laboratory at the
University of Rhode Island, Arun Shukla—the Simon Ostrach Professor of
Mechanical Engineering at URI—is finding answers to those questions and more as
he studies how and why things break apart. His research is taking on greater
importance and relevance during these turbulent times.
A world leader in fracture and
experimental mechanics, Shukla has been working with the American government
since the early 1980s to create stronger materials that can withstand damage
from explosions and other catastrophic events. Most recently, he has conducted
experiments for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S.
Department of Defense.
In his laboratory in the Kirk Center
for Advanced Technology on the Kingston campus, he and his
students—undergraduates and graduates—simulate bomb blasts and other explosions
in two devices: a huge pressurized steel water capsule and a 33-foot aluminum
shock tube.
With that equipment he creates a
controlled explosive environment so he can test how materials stand up to
blasts—and also ensure that his students are doing safe experiments.
The shock tube simulates the rush of
high-pressure gases from an exploding bomb to test materials. Helium is pumped
into the tube to break a covering, then the gases race down the tube at three
to four times the speed of sound and hit the material at the end.
The 7-foot-tall, 1,800-gallon water
capsule simulates the pressure deep in the ocean to measure how underwater
shock waves and explosions affect materials and structures at that depth.
Both devices evaluate different
materials and structures. With the shock tube, Shukla examined how blasts
damage glass windows and buildings. That study was for Homeland Security. Using
the tank, he is looking at how structures in submarines collapse from water
pressure and blasts. The study is being done for the U.S. Navy.
Shukla built the shock tube with
Carl-Ernst Rousseau, now chair of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems
Engineering at URI. Shukla designed the water capsule, which was built in
Virginia and shipped to URI three years ago. Both devices loom large in
Shukla’s Dynamic Photomechanics Laboratory, where the equipment hums steadily
as it readies for the experiments.
“This research equipment is unique
and highly suited for studying catastrophic events,’’ says Shukla. “URI’s
engineering college is doing cutting-edge research that is highly valuable for
the state, the country and the world.’’
His students agree: “I feel lucky to
be studying under Dr. Shukla,’’ says Helio Matos, of Fall River, Mass., a doctoral student in mechanical engineering whose
dissertation involves experiments he’s done with the water capsule. “There is
no better place in the world to do the kind of research we do, especially
underwater structure analysis. The research is far-reaching and rewarding.’’
The tests often last less than one
millisecond, so three high-speed cameras that can take photos ranging from
30,000 to 200 million frames per second record the action. “This allows us to
see the event, as it evolves, in slow motion,’’ says Shukla.
His team examines the photos to
understand how damage happens and how it can be prevented. Sensors on the shock
tube and tank also pick up high pressures generated by the blast. Those results
are analyzed on computers.
His list of sponsors is long—and
impressive. Besides Homeland Security and the U.S. Office of Naval Research, he
has collaborated with the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the
Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, the National Science Foundation, the
U.S. Army Research Office, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
For the U.S. Air Force, he examined
how energy from explosions travels through the ground in a quest to figure out
how a blast affects underground silos. For several years, he’s been studying
how metals in supersonic jet planes fare under extreme temperatures and
pressures.
“We’re trying to create a metal that
will allow planes to fly extremely fast,’’ says Shukla. “The challenge is that
metals get very hot and melt under extremely high velocities.’’
Growing up in Lucknow, a city in
northern India, Shukla enjoyed tinkering with mechanical toys as a child, an
interest that took him to the Indian Institute of Technology, the top
engineering school in the country at the time.
After graduating in 1976 with a
bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, he travelled to the United States
to study at the University of Maryland in College Park, where he earned his
doctorate, also in mechanical engineering.
He joined URI in 1981 as an
assistant professor and became a full professor in 1988. In 2000, he was
appointed to his current position. Over the years, he’s written and edited 10
books, authored more than 350 papers and won numerous awards.
In 2011, he was
the Clark B. Millikan Visiting Professor at the California Institute of
Technology. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Engineering in 2015, and
the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2011. He lives in Wakefield with his family.
“I feel privileged to be at URI,’’
Shukla says. “I thank the state and the University for all the support they’ve
given me over the years. I plan to continue my important research to make the
world a better place.’’
