Mechanics of soft composites presented at 2014 Schaller Lecture

MechSE hosted the 2014 Alwin Schaller Distinguished Lecture today, March 18, at the NCSA auditorium on campus.

Mary C. Boyce, Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor at Columbia University, spoke on “Mechanics of Soft Composites: The Interplay Between Geometrical Structuring and Large Deformation to Achieve Novel Behavior.”

The abstract for the lecture stated: “Soft composites offer new avenues for the design and fabrication of materials that exhibit novel properties and functional behavior. Engineering the interplay between the geometrical structuring of constituent materials and the large deformation behavior of the soft matrix enables structural transformations and tunable properties. Here we explore the mechanics and the design of soft composites through analytical and numerical modeling as well as through experiments on physical prototypes fabricated using multi-material 3D printing. Examples include: layered structures which exhibit deformation-induced transformation of the layered pattern leading to concomitant changes in other attributes to manipulate wave propagation and phononic band gaps;  materials with alternating soft/stiff layered structures, which provide protective yet flexible armor while also providing a novel material design for soft actuators, which transform local compressive loading to large scale rotational motion; and soft matrices augmented by stiff particles which provide deformation-induced morphing surface topologies with engineered surface topologies with the potential to influence a wide range in surface behavior, from friction to drag to reflectivity to bio-fouling and migration.”

Alwin Schaller was an engineering pioneer and civic leader who completed his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1907 and his M.S. in 1912. In the early stages of pressure flooding in oil fields, he studied the effect of adding heat on secondary recovery. His was the first article on the subject ever published in a technical journal, and led to the widespread adoption of thermal recovery.

Mr. Schaller established the Alwin Schaller Endowment Fund in memory of the late mechanical engineering professor George Alfred Goodenough, whom he described as “a major force” in shaping his career. Recognized as an expert in the field of thermodynamics, Professor Goodenough’s interest in specific heat values of gases led him to what was perhaps the first sound thermodynamic analysis of internal combustion engine processes.