Natarajan Sukumar

Dr. Sukumar's research interests are in new computational methods development in solid mechanics and quantum mechanics. Sukumar's research group focuses on advancing modern finite element and meshfree Galerkin methods to simulate large deformation and fracture in solids and structures, and in devising enriched partition ­of ­unity Galerkin methods for large ­scale ab initio quantum­ mechanical materials calculations. These ef forts aim to enable predictive numerical simulations that can capture quasi­static and dynamic fracture processes in solid continua, and new computational real­ space methods that can be an efficient alternative to existing ab initio planewave (Fourier­ based) methods to accurately describe the electronic structure of matter.