Mechanical (re)design of a high-rate recoil instrument
The Physics of Soft Matter Lab (posmlab) performs novel high-rate material characterization using a custom-built tensile tester. We use this instrument to stretch materials to a prescribed displacement at a controlled rate, before suddenly releasing them and measuring the resulting recoil using a high speed camera. Measuring and understanding the large deformation, high-rate mechanical properties of materials is important for potential applications in robotic systems and biomechanics.
The original design and build of the setup was performed by HMC engineering students in 2023, and there are several improvements that could be made to turn it into a world-class instrument. That’s why this semester we are assembling a small team interested in mechanical design to revamp the instrument to improve data quality and functionality. The basic design and functionality of the instrument is similar to the one described in this paper:
Elastodynamic mechanical analyzer for high strain-rate mechanical characterization
Improvements that could be part of the scope of this project include (i) a redesign of the of the pneumatic fast-release clamp (ii) integration of a direct displacement sensor on the instrument crosshead (iii) designing a shock-absorbing protector for the upper clamp assembly (iv) improving the mechanical stability of the crosshead.
There is also potential for you to work on this project while learning more about other parts of posmlab in parallel.
You will be part of a team of HMC students working on a set of related projects at the intersection between physics, materials science, biology, and robotics. Completing the design project and continuing into the experimental phase of this work will give you an opportunity to present your work at a conference and become a published author.
There is also an option to continue working in the summer to do paid research on campus (subject to funding, let me know if you're interested!).