Dr. Tian “Tim” Chen
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
tianchen [at] uh.edu
Auxetic materials exhibit the counter-intuitive property that when stretched in one direction, they expand rather than contract in the orthogonal direction. We plan to study how this can be applied to shape morphing structures where one can assemble a flat surface using many auxetic units, and each unit will expand by a prescribed maximal amount. When there is differential expansion, curvature will necessarily have to change. This change in curvature results in the morphing of the entire surface.
This project has two positions, one focuses on the physical construction and testing of such structures and the other on the computational side. On a human-structure length scale, each unit will be milled using a stiff yet lightweight material such as aluminum. They will need to be joined together individually with the assistance of a robotic arm. Computationally, one needs to adapt the existing codebase to CNC-based manufacturing and robotic assembly.
Researcher Interests and Skills:
The experimental position is best suited for students with hands-on fabrication skill and interest. The computational position requires a level of competency in programming (Python).
