Recent advances in additive manufacturing have facilitated the design of novel architected materials that exploit control over material mesostructure, to outperform typical cellular solids and produce effective properties, including stiffness and strength, that often reach theoretical upper bounds. However, the corresponding gains at high-loading…
Cellular solids are widely observed in many natural systems such as bones, honeycombs, and shells due to their strength-to-weight ratio and energy absorption benefits. Taking inspiration from these natural systems, additive manufacturing (AM) has opened the design space for architected lattices that can be…
Minimally invasive endovascular therapy (MIET) revolutionizes vascular disease treatment through percutaneous access and transcatheter implantation of medical devices. Conventional devices encounter challenges such as incomplete treatment, leading to issues like recanalization in brain aneurysms, endoleaks in aortic aneurysms, and paravalvular leaks in cardiac valves….
Bistable mechanisms maintain two stable positions without consuming energy, making them useful in applications demanding long-term stability. Here, we introduce a novel rotational bistable mechanism designed specifically for airfoil leading and trailing edges morphing in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The proposed mechanism addresses the…
Materials with different combinations of piezoelectric and flexoelectric properties offer multifunctionality and versatility in terms of modes of operation in sensing, actuation, energy conversion, and energy harvesting. We explore a microscopic mechanism for tailoring the macroscopic electrical output of polymer-metal particle composites, which takes…
We use the material point methods to overcome many difficulties related to numerical simulation of objects with complex geometries subjected to extreme deformations and stresses. These issues include complex geometries of 3-D printed materials, mesh or material point generation from CT- scanned images, and…
Interfaces play a key role in determining the mechanical properties and macro behaviors of multi-material structures. Composites can be developed with toughening mechanisms and modified failure regimes through tailoring the material-interface relationship. It can be difficult to fabricate architected materials with interfaces using additive…
Auxetic (negative Poisson’s ratio) structures comprising rotating square unit cells have attracted considerable attention due to their tunable shape control, strength, and strain energy absorption capacity. This study explores the multiscale mechanical behavior of rotating-square auxetics under various strain rates, emphasizing their response under…
In this presentation we look at various finite element methods for modeling biological matter. Because biological matter is nearly incompressible, volumetric locking must be accounted for. Mixed finite elements are known to overcome locking and in addition are particularly suited for problems where a…
Self-assembling polymers have become an important component of armor materials and protective coatings due to their ability to absorb and dissipate shock energy and rapidly self-seal punctures caused by projectiles. Optimal self-sealing polymers must be both elastically resilient and have fast molecular diffusion during…