http://granita.fiu.edu/Recent content in GRANITA Lab on Website of The Granular Mechanics Research Laboratory at Florida International UniversityHugo -- gohugo.ioenThu, 23 Apr 2026 12:27:33 -0600http://granita.fiu.edu/team/anil-misra/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/anil-misra/Bio Dr. Anil Misra serves as the director of the Granular Micromechanics Research Laboratory. He also serves as the Chair and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University, Miami. He was previously the Glenn L. Parker-James L. Tyson Professor of Engineering Mechanics in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and Associate Director of KU Institute for Bioengineering Research (IBER).http://granita.fiu.edu/research/granular-micromechanics-approach/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/research/granular-micromechanics-approach/Selected Publications Principle of VirtualWork as Foundational Framework forMetamaterial Discovery and Rational Design https://doi.org/10.5802/crmeca.151 This work presents the principle of virtual work as a unifying framework for developing generalized continuum theories and architected metamaterials. By connecting grain-scale interactions and microstructure to emergent macroscale behavior through micro-macro identification, the study demonstrates how granular and pantographic architectures can be designed to exhibit nonclassical mechanical responses beyond the limits of conventional continuum mechanics.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/nurettin-yilmaz/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/nurettin-yilmaz/Nurettin Yilmaz is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering at Florida International University since January 2025. He holds a B.Sc. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Istanbul Technical University and an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of L’Aquila. His research bridges mathematical modeling, computational mechanics, and continuum mechanics, with a focus on understanding the mechanical behavior of granular materials using continuum models. Nurettin is currently contributing to research on granular motif metamaterials and constitutive modeling using the Granular Micromechanics Approach.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/larry-murcia-terranova/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/larry-murcia-terranova/Larry Murcia is a PhD student in Civil Engineering at Florida International University and a PhD student in Mathematics and Modeling at the University of L’Aquila. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a degree in Applied Mathematics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. His research interests include variational modeling, nonlinear dynamics, solid mechanics, metamaterials, and nonlinear oscillatory systems. Larry is currently working on variational models for metamaterials and granular materials, focusing on the development and analysis of mathematical frameworks for complex mechanical systems with nonlinear and emergent behavior.http://granita.fiu.edu/research/numerical-methods-and-advanced-computing/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/research/numerical-methods-and-advanced-computing/Selected Publications iDEM: An impulse-based discrete element method for fast granular dynamics https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.4923 This work introduces an impulse-based discrete element method (iDEM) for efficient simulation of granular materials. By replacing contact-force calculations with collision impulses and directly updating particle velocities, the method bypasses acceleration integration while preserving fidelity. The approach is numerically stable and achieves speedups approaching two orders of magnitude over conventional DEM, enabling large-scale simulations on accessible computing hardware.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/seung-jae-lee/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/seung-jae-lee/Bio Dr. Seung Jae Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and co-director of the Granular Micromechanics Research Laboratory. He also currently serves as the Undergraduate Program Director within the department. His research trajectory has evolved through a multidisciplinary background spanning architectural engineering, structural engineering, and computational granular mechanics. Dr. Lee began his academic training in architectural engineering at Sungkyunkwan University and started his professional career as a building façade engineer at the LG Industrial Materials Research Institute.http://granita.fiu.edu/research/adv-particle-characterization/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/research/adv-particle-characterization/Selected Publications Particle Geometry Space: An integrated characterization of particle shape, surface area, volume, specific surface, and size distribution https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2025.101579 This work introduces Particle Geometry Space (PGS), a unified analytical framework integrating particle size (D), shape (β), surface area (A), volume (V), and specific surface (A/V) into a single geometry-based representation. Moving beyond conventional isolated methods by characterizing size or shape, PGS enables systematic interpretation of all 3D particle geometry attributes in a single space and its relationship to granular material behavior while extending the traditional particle size distribution concept into a multidimensional framework.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/dipak-dahal/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/dipak-dahal/Dipak Dahal is a Ph.D. student since August 2024, admitted directly into the doctoral program after completing his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Pokhara University. His research focuses on understanding granular materials through particle-scale characterization and establishing links between microscopic particle attributes and macroscopic material behavior. Dipak is currently contributing to the development the Particle Geometry Space (PGS) framework, an analytical approach designed to comprehensively represent three-dimensional particle characteristics within a unified framework.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/anuragi-thapa/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/anuragi-thapa/Anuragi Thapa is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering since January 2025, admitted directly into the doctoral program after completing her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the National College of Engineering, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University. Her research interests lie in understanding and predicting granular flow behavior through computational modeling of the particulate nature of materials. Anuragi is currently contributing to “DEMIAN – Discrete Element Method Infused with Artificial Neural computations”" as a research assistant.http://granita.fiu.edu/team/lance-a-roberts/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/lance-a-roberts/http://granita.fiu.edu/team/ranganathan-parthasarathy/Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/team/ranganathan-parthasarathy/http://granita.fiu.edu/license/Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000http://granita.fiu.edu/license/This website is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). The content may be shared and adapted provided appropriate credit is given and derivative works are distributed under the same license.