Monday 16:00 pm - 17:15 pm FIT

livMatS Special Colloquium | Prof. Andres Arrieta (Purdue University) | Bioinspired Programmable Structures

Abstract
Environmental responsiveness and extreme adaptation allow biological systems to operate in unstructured environments fulfilling dissimilar functions. This multifunctionality and adaptability stem from their constitutive materials' complex and hierarchical nature. An interesting avenue for exploiting this relationship utilizes large deflections arising from elastic instabilities, whereby local changes in shape changes from deformation enable function programming. Indeed, systems exhibiting geometrical multistability, the switching between the available stable configurations from compliance, naturally show fast adaptability of shape and stiffness, which may be triggered by active control or passive response to environmental changes. The arrangement of hierarchical multistable elements into compliant structures is an exciting methodology for creating architectured material systems and structures with inherent multifunctional behavior. This seminar will present examples in which hierarchical structures exhibit multistability resulting in programmable structures. Specifically, we will discuss the design, modeling, and fabrication of origami and plant-inspired programmable systems.

Short Bio
Andres F. Arrieta is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering (by courtesy) at Purdue University, where he leads the Programmable Structures Lab. Previously, he worked as a Group Leader at ETH Zurich’s CMAS Lab and as a Research Associate at the Dynamics and Oscillations Group at TU Darmstadt. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bristol and his BEng from the Los Andes University, Bogota, Colombia. Prof. Arrieta’s research focuses on investigating instabilities and nonlinearity in structural mechanics. Current efforts concentrate on the modeling and designing of programmable structures, soft robotics, nonlinear metamaterials, and morphing structures. The Programmable Structures Lab’s work has been highlighted by several media outlets, including National Geographic and Nature’s News and Views.

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