Publications
Developed to be a self-calibrating sensor for beam-forming arrays used for sound localization in aeroacoustics research. Pressure is detected by a thin film membrane constructed from polyvinylidene flouride (PVDF). Displacement of the membrane is observed by a fiber-optic sensor. A closed-loop feedback control system is then used to actively modify the frequency response of the microphone utilizing the piezoelectric properties of the PVDF material.
The first launch of the Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) experiment experienced unanticipated flight dynamics that resulted in a reduced apogee and a reduced velocity on descent, causing flight conditions to deviate from desired. A flexible-body model of the second stage vehicle reveals the flight dynamics were likely influenced by the combination of the asymmetric payload and reduction in the static margin from aeroelasticity.
Shipboard vibration has been identified as having the potential to cause degradation of 3D printer performance. A proposed mitigation for this effect is to actively monitor vibration of the ship deck and critical parts on the printer. Response accelerations are used in a a logistic regression model that calculates a predicted likelihood of failure.
Examples
First-Principles Dynamics
Model Derivations in Jupyter Notebook
The Python sympy.physics.mechanics module is an excellent resource for a dynamicist to derive symbolic equations of motion for mechanical systems of low-to-medium complexity. Mobile Multibody Dynamics includes a convenient interface to this module, and may be used to export automatically generated source code similar to these.
Inverse Force Reconstruction
Test articles in propulsion and aerodynamics industries will commonly measure forces indirectly via load cells at an attachment interface, or accelerometers. Force reconstruction is the process of deriving a dynamics model empirically or analytically, then solving an inverse problem on the indirect measurements to calculate forces at their source.