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SUMMARY:MechE Colloquium: Autonomously Moving and Assembling Soft Matter S
 ystems
DTSTART:20231107T120000
DTEND:20231107T130000
DTSTAMP:20260507T213756Z
UID:47075182a57b0d368f83bec4aee34bbdf3e27e556bb218cbf9b9e995
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof Al Crosby\, UMass Amherst\nAbstract: Soft materials\, su
 ch as polymer gels\, have long been realized as a potential platform forac
 tuation\; however\, several challenges have limited their integration into
  translatable technologies. In particular\, soft matter actuators are slow
 \, unable to generate significant power\, and typically require external i
 ntervention to initiate multiple\, sequential actuation events. Here\, we 
 describe our efforts to meet these challenges. We first introducematerials
  science principles and lessons that we have learned as part of a multi-un
 iversity team\, which takes inspiration from examples in nature including 
 mantis\nshrimp and trap-jaw ants. These organisms use Latch-Mediated Sprin
 g Actuation (LaMSA) to achieve high power\, impulsive movements by integra
 ting actuators\, elastic elements\, and stability-mediating latches. We de
 monstrate how transient metastable deformations associated with swelling a
 nd deswelling of a polymer gel can be exploited to generate mechanical bi-
 stability\, giving rise to multiple\, self-repeating\, snap-through\nmovem
 ents. Second\, we describe the use of structural asymmetry to mediate swel
 ling/deswelling processes in order to control the kinematics of mesoscale 
 polymer ribbons. We use this control to form bundled structures that resem
 ble powerful biological actuators\, e.g. muscles\, and their formation pro
 cesses open pathways for creating a future generation of materials that ha
 ve textile-like properties without requiring energy\nintensive spinning an
 d weaving processes. Collectively\, the strategies and results discussed h
 ere provide new insight into how polymer properties can combine with purpo
 seful structural design to achieve complex tasks\, which can be used in th
 e development of microscale robots and new adaptable composite materials.\
 n\n\nBiography: Alfred J. Crosby is Professor and Head of the Polymer Sci
 ence & Engineering Department at the\nUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst 
 and Co-Director of the Center for Evolutionary Materials. Al received his 
 B.S. in Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Vir
 ginia and his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from Northwestern U
 niversity. He was an\nNRC Postdoctoral Fellow at NIST from 2000-2002 befor
 e joining UMass Amherst in 2002. He has received numerous awards\, includi
 ng being a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the National Academ
 y of Inventors\, and his research has been covered extensively in the popu
 lar\nmedia. He serves on several advisory boards and is the Editor-in-Chie
 f for the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Soft Matter.\n 
LOCATION:MED 0 1418 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%200%201418 https://epf
 l.zoom.us/j/61626448592
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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