AMPS II — Term Project Topics
Ten topics from current research in chemical and biomolecular engineering · proposal due before Week 9 · progress talk in Week 15 · report and talk in Week 16
How to choose
Each topic takes a problem from a current research field of chemical and biomolecular engineering and turns it into a solid, fluid or coupled model that combines several weeks of this course. You may also propose your own topic from your research (the Week 8 example: a pressurised and heated reactor wall). Every topic, including your own, is graded the same way (proposal 5 + progress talk 5 + final report and code 20 + final talk 10): model and weak form, numerical choices (locking, solvers, stepping), verification, results, LLM workflow.
| Topic | Tier | Physics | Course weeks used | Related fields | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Printed hydrogel scaffold | standard | periodic homogenization of a printed lattice; large-strain viscoelastic compression | 1, 5, 9 | biomaterials, hydrogels, rheology |
| B | Supercritical CO₂ extraction | standard | packed-bed flow, axial dispersion, linear-driving-force desorption | 12, 13 | supercritical fluids, separations |
| C | Catalyst pellet and monolith | standard → advanced | reaction–diffusion with Arrhenius heat release in a pellet; monolith channel with conjugate heat transfer | 3, 12, 13 | heterogeneous catalysis, reaction engineering |
| D | Compressed felt electrode | advanced | large-strain compression of a porous electrode → porosity and permeability → Darcy flow in a flow battery | 1, 2, 13 | flow batteries, electrolysis |
| E | Diffusion-induced stress in battery particles | standard | lithium diffusion + elasticity (thermal-stress analogy), spherical and ellipsoidal particles, fracture risk | 2, 3, 5 | lithium-ion batteries |
| F | Film stress, wafer bow and wrinkling | standard → advanced | thermal-mismatch stress and Stoney bow; wrinkling of a stiff film on a soft substrate (SLEPc buckling) | 3, 6, 8, 9 | thin films, semiconductor and display devices |
| G | Pneumatic soft actuator | advanced | nearly incompressible hyperelasticity, inflation instability, bending actuator | 1, 7, 8 | soft robotics, stretchable electronics |
| H | Phase separation and coarsening | standard | Cahn–Hilliard in polymer blends and emulsions; linear stability, coarsening law, parallel performance | 14 | polymers, emulsions, self-assembly |
| I | Microfluidic biosensor | standard | Stokes/Navier–Stokes channel flow, analyte transport, Langmuir binding on a sensor patch | 11, 12 | microfluidics, biosensors |
| J | Laminar tubular polymerization reactor | advanced | axisymmetric Navier–Stokes with conversion-dependent viscosity, species and heat, exothermic kinetics | 2, 11, 12 | polymerization, process systems |
Standard topics have a well-defined required part and leave room for stretch goals. Advanced topics couple two of the course’s models (solid ↔︎ flow in D, large strain + instability in G, flow ↔︎ rheology ↔︎ heat in J); start them only if Weeks 1 and 11–13 went well for you. Each topic page lists required tasks, the verification that is specific to the topic, stretch goals, milestones and pitfalls.
What every topic must contain
- Model and weak form with spaces, essential/natural conditions, the constitutive model and its internal variables, the reductions you make (2D, axisymmetric, plane strain, periodic cell) and why they are valid.
- Numerical choices: elements (and why they do not lock), solvers, load or time stepping, the cost on Colab (2 CPUs).
- Verification: a manufactured or exact solution with predicted rates on at least four meshes, and the topic’s own physical check (listed on each page), and
-np 1=-np 2(except branching 1D meshes, Week 7). - Results: the topic’s design output, mesh-independent.
- LLM workflow with at least three concrete errors found and how.
Units: state the dimensional values and the dimensionless groups they correspond to (Péclet, Damköhler, Thiele, slenderness, stiffness ratio, …).
Choosing and claiming
- Write your choice and a two-line plan in the proposal (
week08/W08_project_proposal.ipynb, Section 1). At most three students per topic; topics are assigned in the order the proposals arrive. Students on the same topic must not share code (syllabus, Academic Integrity). - A topic that matches your own research is welcome — bring your data and parameter values; the verification requirements stay the same.
- Own topic: it must couple at least two of the course’s models or contain a nonlinearity (material, geometric or kinetic), and it must allow an exact or manufactured solution and one independent physical check.
Sources
Each topic page lists its references.