In this paper, some recent progress toward the prediction of fully coupled wave-body interactions using a sharp interface immersed-boundary/level-set method is presented. A noniterative strong coupling scheme for the fluid motion and rigid body dynamics is adopted by utilizing a non-inertial reference frame attached to the solid body. The combination of this scheme with the previous immersed-bo...

This paper describes novel experimental methods aimed at understanding the fundamental phenomena governing the motion of lightweight vehicles on dry, granular soils. A single-wheel test rig is used to empirically investigate wheel motion under controlled wheel slip and loading conditions on sandy, dry soil. Test conditions can be designed to replicate typical field scenarios for lightweight rob...

The observability of gravitational waves from supermassive and intermediate-mass black holes by the forecoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), and the physics we can learn from the observations, will depend on two basic factors: the event rates for massive black hole mergers occurring in the LISA best sensitivity window, and our theoretical knowledge of the gravitational waveforms. W...