Abstract: Study of hydrodynamics and reactive mechanics of homogenous, liquid explosives, under extreme pressures and temperatures, requires experiments and simulations at refined length and time scales. Despite plethora of effort to study shock-induced homogenous, liquid explosives, there is no comprehensive reactive flow theory that correctly accounts for the early stages of initiation, the reactive shock propagation through a pre-shocked medium, the input shock effects on a super-detonation, the dynamics of an unsteady detonation, and the influence of the cellular detonation structure, which can be observed on a micrometer and nanosecond length-time scales. This seminar aims to present recent efforts on the study of shock-driven reactive flow in a model homogenous explosive, liquid nitromethane, by combining theoretical studies and advanced experiments performed in the Dlott Research group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This combination of theory and experiments will enable us to develop a robust reactive flow model, deeply grounded in detailed mechanics and chemical kinetics at resolved spatial-temporal scales of micrometers and nanoseconds; using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory hydrodynamic code, Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian 3D (ALE3D) code with the thermochemical code, Cheetah.
Bio: Svjetlana Stekovic is a PhD candidate in the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (TAM) program in the Mechanical Science and Engineering Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 2008. Svjetlana conducted her post baccalaureate research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory focusing on materials science research until 2014. Afterwards, she obtained her Master of Science in TAM from UIUC in 2017 and continued her theoretical and computational research of energetic materials under the advisement of Professor D Scott Stewart and Professor Dana Dlott. Her doctoral research focuses on studying inert and reactive materials at the micrometer length scale and nanosecond time scale via modeling laser-driven, high-impact tabletop experiments. She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation graduate fellowship.
Hosts: Professors Moshe Matalon and Scott Stewart
