Dear Reader,

It has been a very memorable year in many respects. I am writing my final newsletter of 2023 and in this edition I will reflect on the following:

1. Technical Reflections: Polymer modelling insights
2. Behind the Scenes at CM Videos: Best Month on YouTube
3. Quote of the week: Play and Productivity

Let us get into it

Technical Reflection

My polymer modelling journey

I publish and write quite a lot about Composites and RVE modelling that maybe some of you have come to associate that to be my area of specialty. One thing you might not have known is that I actually started off my academic journey learning how to model polymers.

My PhD was about predicting large deformations associated with thermoplastic matrix composites using a micromechanical approach. As a result, I had to model the polymersand fibre constituents and their geometric representation. I had to also choose the right boundary conditions for such a heterogeneous media hence my decision to explore periodic boundary conditions. I also had a post-doctoral study involving impact behaviour of a 3D reinforced composite.

Following those, I had been focussed a lot on my Periodic boundary conditions, composites design and RVE modelling of these composites. I have not actually discussed a lot about polymer modelling. In fact, I have quite a few publications based on polymer modelling and one of the ones I am particularly proud of is a constitutive model I developed for semicrystalline polymers (in this instance polypropylene). It has gained seen some citations and seemed to be loved by the community. If you are interested, here is the link to that paper:

I would love to start making videos and writing reflections on this lesser known part of my research. I have not delved into this that much because polymer modelling is quite challenging and would often draw skills from the student that is not always that intuitive. It would require me to develop a lot of background videos on it before actually showing how a model can be developed. At the start of the channel, I felt this would not be the best focus of the channel but maybe we are getting closer to that goal as I see/assume the audience on the channel maturing more to those sort of content. Please let me know if I am making wrong assumptions here.

Also, most composite materials do not show finite deformations as they are quite brittle. So, modelling their response tend to be based on quasi-brittle arguments with fracture mechanics assumptions used to capture post-yield behaviour. Interestingly, the composite I studied was different. It could show up to 20% deformations and depending on stacking sequence, loading direction and temperature of loading, it can show up to 100% strain. This is unheard of with most composite materials but that becomes the computational modelling challenge.

Also, the behaviour of the polymer across a wide range of loading rates can result in remarkably different constitutive behaviour. The image below is an illustration of this fact for a compressive behaviour of a thermoplastic matrix based composite subjected to loading rates from 0.0001 1/s to 10,0000 1/s strain rate.

To get hold of the complete paper from which the graph above is taken, visit below:

To adequately capture this behaviour, one has to model the polymer robustly as most of these unique behaviour arise from the viscoelasticity and plastic deformation of the polymer. One would have to also capture temperature-dependent behaviour of the polymer as well as post-yield mechanics of such polymer. There are unique constitutive laws that one has to apply to determine each of these and incorporate them into a holistic physically-based material model for the polymer. This is the challenge of polymer modelling, and I hope in future to begin to unpack these things.

Let me know in a reply email if this is something that you are interested in.

Behind the Scenes at CM Videos

Best Month of 2023 on YouTube Channel

As the year comes to an end, I have been reviewing what I was able to accomplish in 2023. I will write a dedicated newsletter where we review this as my practice is and also set out my goals for 2024.

The key information I want to share now is that my best month of 2023 on the YouTube channel is November. Here are some numbers behind this fact:

1. Highest number of subscribers gained = 220 subscribers
2. Highest number of views on videos = 17,600 views
3. Highest number of watch hours = 961.2 hours
4. Highest number of likes on videos = 327 likes

All these are excellent metrics that one would want to see regularly on ones channel and they point to a healthy growth of the channel.

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Quote of the Week

Playful Productivity

I have just got a copy of Ali Abdaal's new book titled Feel Good Productity. It was released 30th December 2023 (precisely today) but since I ordered it on pre-order, it was sent to me ahead of the launch date here in the UK.

It is a book I have looked forward to a lot as I follow Ali Abdaal's YouTube channel and vibe with a lot of what he shares in making productivity work for us his 5M+ subscribers.

As I just started reading the book, I was drawn to the core message of the book which is that if we make productivity fun, we can do more than seeing it as a chore and a challenge. This quote for the week is taken from the first chapter and it goes:

The essense here is that as humans, we are wired to enjoy play. Animals also enjoy it. Babies too enjoy playing. Our first ways of navigating our world is often around play and it is as Ali said, our first energizer. When we go out to play, we find our energy and learning and doing things become easy when woven into the fabric of play.

Play in this content is not just empty distracted activity but rather a conscious incorporation of the benefits of joyfulness in what we do in order to become good at it. Anyone who has ever achieved anything often would do so because the index of joy in play has been ticked for them in that activity. What we hate and do not enjoy we walk away from or simply neglect until that action becomes dead in us.

The lesson from the quote is that even as we go into the new year, you have to be intentional about enjoying what you do. If you have not been enjoying your studies or making as rapid a progress as you desire, it might be time to see how you can incorporate a playful joyfulness in that activity. I am not sure how this can be done but I quite like the idea that within everyone of us is a child seeking avenues for play. Strip off that stunted formalism of work and incorporate a joyful playfulness and see your productivity shoot through the roof, that is at least according to Ali Abdaal and I hope this is the case for you and I.

Thanks for reading not only this newsletter but for everyone of you who have been reading consistently and even not so consistently this year.

You all have been my motivation for sticking with this and writing as I have done. I am looking forward to 2024 and hope that you will come along with me as we journey via various media that I use to help many get into and sustain their computational modelling enthusiasm.

So, I wish you a wonderfully Happy New Year in advance. God bless you.