Modeling for Process Control: High-Dimensional Systems

Most of other technologically important systems (among them, powders and other granular systems) are intrinsically nonlinear. This project is focused on building the dynamical models for granular systems as a prototype for nonlinear high-dimensional systems exhibiting complex non-equilibrium phenomena. Granular materials present a unique opportunity to study these issues in a technologically important and yet fundamentally interesting setting. Granular systems exhibit a rich variety of regimes from gas-like to solid-like depending on the external excitation. Based the combination of the rigorous asymptotic analysis, available experimental data and nonlinear signal processing tools, we developed a multi-scale approach to the modeling of granular systems from detailed description of grain-grain interaction on a micro-scale to continuous modeling of large-scale granular flows with important geophysical applications