The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to devise and formalize a new class of Smart Morphable Surfaces (or Smorphs), that can acquire reversible and on-demand customizable topography through a wrinkling instability. This functionality of Smorphs will be exploited for switchable and tunable aerodynamic drag reduction and control on structures with complex-shaped surfaces. This research first calls for a fundamental understanding of the mechanics of the post-buckling regime and associated geometric nonlinearities of this pattern formation process. Moreover, detailed wind tunnel testing will be performed to quantify the aerodynamic performance of Smorphs. Whereas the epicenter of the research is in structural mechanics, utilizing wrinkling morphologies for enhanced aerodynamics will require a multidisciplinary approach and open new directions in fluid-structure interaction. More broadly, the proposed research will be strongly rooted in the basis of recognizing experiments in structural mechanics as a valuable tool for discovery, supported by computational and theoretical efforts, in a vision of science-enabled engineering and engineering-motivated science.
Smart Morphable Surfaces offer the opportunity for enhanced aerodynamic performance in a variety of engineering applications, including: radomes, wind turbine towers, automobiles and aircraft structures. For all of these, devising mechanisms for drag reduction is of significant engineering relevance for better resilience of infrastructure, increased fuel efficiency, and new mechanisms for maneuverability. The underlying mechanism of Smorphs is analogous to the workings of a golf ball whose dimpled pattern reduces drag by up to a factor of two, when compared to a smooth sphere, albeit with added switchable and tunable capabilities. Close interactions with an industrial partner will provide a feasible channel to translate the fundamental research into implementable engineering applications. Concurrently to the research, novel pedagogical strategies will be explored for undergraduate laboratory-based education in engineering design and experimental mechanics. Moreover, innovative web-based tools will be developed for the online teaching of Mechanics and Materials, through indexable and browsable video-content. Partnership with the non-profit Summer Search will provide mentoring, coaching and research internships for low- income inner-city students of the Boston area.
