Faculty - Mechanical Engineering
Senthil Vel
Contact Information
Phone:
581-2777
Email/Web:
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Address:
5711 Boardman Hall, Room 214
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469
Research interests
Senthil S. Vel received his bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in 1993. He earned a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and a M.A. degree in Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the Engineering Science and Mechanics department at Virginia Tech in Fall 1996 and completed his doctorate in Fall 1998. He worked as a Post-doctoral Fellow at Virginia Tech before joining the University of Maine as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2000.
Professor Vel's contributions to Solid Mechanics include the development of analytical solutions for laminated anisotropic thick plates, smart structures and functionally graded materials. He and his graduate students are currently working on the development of a methodology for the simultaneous optimization of topology and material composition of functionally graded structures using a multi-objective genetic algorithm that mimics the evolutionary principles and chromosomal processing in natural genetics to evolve superior designs. He is also interested in laminated composite materials and a class of smart structures that consist of piezoelectric sensors and actuators integrated with structural systems. He has successfully advised 5 Masters students and published over 22 papers in peer reviewed international journals.
Research Interests
- Numerical simulation and multi-objective optimization of functionally graded materials (FGMs).
- Analysis of functionally graded plates and shells.
- Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of smart structures.
- Three-dimensional analytical solutions for laminated composite beams and plates.
- Genetic algorithms for structural optimization.
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