Faculty Profiles
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Neil T. Wright |
| Associate Professor | |
| Michigan State University | |
| Mechanical Engineering | |
| 2242 Engineering Building | |
| East Lansing, MI 48824-1226 | |
| Ph:(517) 432-4917 | |
| Fax:(517) 353-1750 | |
| ntwright@egr.msu.edu | |
| Research Interests *Measuring multi-axial thermophysical properties of elastomers and biological soft tissues that are subjected to finite multi-axial deformation *Thermomechanically-induced damage to proteins, cells and tissues Laboratory In the Thermophysical Property Laboratory, we develop techniques to measure the thermal diffusivity tensor of elastomers and biological soft tissues that are subject to finite multi-axial deformation. Our system couples a custom-made biaxial load frame (with computer controlled loading using video feedback measurement of the in-plane stretches) with a unique laser-pulse orthogonal components of thermal diffusivity measurement system. We are in the process of incorporating temperature measurement using a high frequency infrared camera that will facilitate measuring more general anisotropies. These unique measurements incorporate concepts from finite elasticity with those of heat transfer and thermodynamics. Additionally, because these materials, especially the biological tissues, can be altered irreversibly when heated and deformed, description of the damage evolution is also required. Thus we are examining several methods of describing this thermal damage. Selected Publications Wright, N. T., Chen, S., and Humphrey, J.D., 1998, “Time-Temperature Equivalence Applied to Heat-Induced Changes of Cells and Proteins”, ASME J. Biomech. Engr., v. 120, no. 1, pp. 22-26. Chen, S., Wright, N. T., and Humphrey, J.D., 1998, “Heat-induced Changes in the Mechanics of a Collagenous Tissue: Isothermal Isotonic Shrinkage”, ASME J. Biomech. Engr., v. 120, n. 3, pp. 382-388. Thamire, C. and Wright, N. T., 1998, “Buoyancy induced flows in spherical annular sectors: transient flows”, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, v. 41, pp. 4121-4138. Parihar, S.K. and Wright, N. T., 1999, “Effect of thickness on the thermal contact resistance of elastomer to metal contacts”, ASME J. Heat Transfer, v. 121, pp. 700-702. Deramond, H., Wright, N. T., Belkoff, S.M., 1999, “Temperature Elevation Caused by Bone Cement Polymerization During Vertebroplasty”, Bone, v.25, n.2 Supplement, pp. 17s-21s. Doss, D.J. and Wright, N. T., 2000, “Simultaneous Measurement of the Orthogonal Components of Thermal Diffusivity”, ASME J. Heat Transfer, v. 122, n.1, pp. 27-32. Wright, N.T. and J.D. Humphrey, 2002, “Denaturation of Collagen via Heating: An Irreversible Rate Process,” Annual Reviews of Biomedical Engineering, v. 4, pp. 109-128. Y. Wang and N. T. Wright, 2005, ``A Relationship between Thermal Diffusivity and Finite Deformation in Polymers,'' International Journal of Thermophysics, v. 26, n. 6, pp. 1849-1859. Munsell, B. A., Beede, D. K., Domecq, J. J., Epperson, W. B., Ragavendran A., Wright, N. T., Zanella, A. J., 2006, ``Use of infrared thermography to non-invasively identify lesions in dairy cows,'' Journal of Animal Science, v. 84, pp. 143-143, Suppl. 1. Aizaz A., Bauer P., Grimm T. L., Wright N. T., Antoine, C. Z., 2007, ``Measurements of thermal conductivity and Kapitza conductance of niobium for SRF cavities for various treatments,'' IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 17:2, pp. 1310-1313. Beck, J.V., N. T. Wright, and A. Haji-Sheikh, 2008, ``Solutions for Heat Conduction with Time-Varying Boundary Conditions,'' International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, v. 51, pp. 2553-2565. Pence, T.J., Monroe, R.J., and N. T. Wright, 2008, ``On the computation of stress in affine versus non-affine fibril kinematics within planar collagen network models,'' Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, v. 130, 041009-1 Additional Information Neil T. Wright has been Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University since 2002. Immediately prior to this, he was Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and had spent the 2000-2001 academic year on sabbatical leave at the University of Texas at Austin in the Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering Programs. He received the Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Before returning to graduate school fulltime, he was an engineer at Martin-Marietta Aerospace in Denver where he worked on low-gravity propellant management and Space Shuttle ground support projects. Dr. Wright’s research and teaching interests are in the thermal-fluid sciences, especially heat transfer, thermodynamics, and bio-thermal processes. His dissertation topics were boiling and buoyancy induced flows. More recently, he has focused on multi-axial thermophysical property measurements in materials that are subjected to finite biaxial stretched and thermomechanical damage to biological materials. His other research interests include heat transfer at material interfaces and electronics cooling. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation, and the Army Research Office |
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