Hubbard and Wissa Collaborators on ASME Best Paper in Structures

Hubbard and Wissa Collaborators on ASME Best Paper in Structures

Hubbard and Wissa Collaborators on ASME Best Paper in Structures

Aerospace Engineering Professor James E. Hubbard, Jr. and alumna Aimy Wissa (Ph.D., 14) were collaborators on the winning paper for the 2015 Best Paper in Structures Award from the Adaptive Structures and Material Systems (ASMS) branch of the Aerospace Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

The paper, "Design and Optimization of a Contact-Aided Compliant Mechanism for Passive Bending," stemmed from a collaboration with Pennsylvania State University colleagues, Ph.D. student Yashwanth Tummala and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Mary Frecker.

The research aimed at designing and optimizing a contact-aided compliant mechanism (CCM)—called a compliant spine (CS)—that is flexible in one direction, but stiff in the opposite. According to the paper, compliant mechanisms are both lighter, and easier and cheaper to fabricate over their rigid counterparts.

The goal of optimization was to minimize the peak stress and mass while maximizing the deflection, subject to geometric and other constraints. The researchers used flapping wing unmanned air vehicles— also known as ornithopters—as their case study vehicle to test the accuracy of the design optimization procedure and prove how well the compliant spine design worked.

Next, the team fabricated the optimal compliant spine designs, integrated them into the ornithopter's wing leading edge spar and performed flight tests. The flight test results demonstrated the ability of the compliant spine to produce an asymmetry in the ornithopter's wing kinematics during the up and down strokes.

Wissa was responsible for performing test flights of the ornithopters equipped with prototype compliant spines at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) indoor flight facility.

Hubbard is a Samuel P. Langley Distinguished Professor and director of both the University of Maryland's Morpheus Laboratory and the National Institute of Aerospace's Alex Brown Center for Adaptive Aerospace Research.

The award, presented by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Technical Committee, was announced during the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) Smart Structures/NDE Conference held March 8-12 in San Diego, Calif.

Related Articles:
Balachandran Honored with ASME’s Den Hartog, Lyapunov Awards
Clark School Grad Takes Top Spots in ASME NSF Research Poster Competition
A Picture of Structural Health
Bilal Ayyub Chairs ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division
Chopra Named Recipient of 2016 ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal
Mechanical Engineering Student Appointed to ASME-IPTI Collegiate Council
Han Receives ASME Mechanics Award
Three Aerospace Engineering Faculty Receive 2015 DURIP Awards
Hubbard Named ASME Fellow
Dasgupta, Fourney and Hwang Named ASME Fellows

March 26, 2015


Prev   Next

Current Headlines

Two BIOE Students Receive MPower Graduate Fellowships

Three UMD Students Receive SAMPE Leadership Awards

International Energy Cooperation Center Established at University of Maryland

Maryland Researchers Awarded $1.5 Million to Pioneer Batteries for Electric Rail and Maritime Transportation

Researcher’s Pacific Dive Spurred Innovations in Robotics with Machine Intelligence to Create Biodegradable Plastic Substitutes

UMD Professor and Alum Among 2024 VFS Awardees

Agents of Positive Change: Highlighting Women Maryland Engineers

Celebrating Women in Aerospace Engineering: Christine Hartzell

News Resources

Return to Newsroom

Search News

Archived News

Events Resources

Events Calendar