CAREER: Harnessing the Dynamic Functions of Irregular Structural Patterns

About This Grant

The Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant supports research that advances fundamental knowledge of the dynamics of segmented structural designs with irregular patterns, thereby promoting the progress of science, and advancing prosperity and welfare. Current bio-inspired engineering primarily emphasizes optimizing regular geometric patterns that are ordered, periodic, and repeated, overlooking the intrinsic geometric irregularities found in nature. This approach misses the opportunities presented by the ubiquitous and intrinsic geometric irregularities of living organisms. This project will attempt to address this critical gap by developing the required engineering models for identifying and applying distinctive irregular patterns to design structures to match the range of functions and energy- and material-efficiency of biological systems. Potential applications include energy harvesting, intelligent actuation and control in vehicles, smart shock absorption, vibration damping, and acoustic attenuation. Drawing inspiration from the musculoskeletal patterns in diving seabirds and stingrays, the new findings plan to yield transformative technological solutions to achieve efficient multifunctional structures. Additionally, the project will develop a user-friendly, open-source application to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and make these concepts accessible to scientists, engineers, and the public. This app will help translate insights from biological dynamics into practical applications in biomechanics, biomedical science, and engineering. This research aims to make a transformative shift in current multifunctional structure modeling framework and biodynamics interpretation. Irregular patterns for engineering structures can overcome current limitations in structural dynamics engineering ranging from complex actuation for robots and vehicles to energy extractions from ocean waves. The project will attempt to address those limitations by developing an efficient dynamics modeling framework to predict the distinctive dynamics of irregular patterns in natural structures and demonstrate a wide control range of these dynamics with tunable specialized irregularities in structural patterns. The focus will be on three engineered geometric irregularities --- local rigidity, interfaces, and pattern connectivity. These irregularities should enable control of the wave properties and emerging dynamics, key to achieving advanced engineered structures with dynamic functions. This effort intends to demonstrate (i) impact energy attenuation using a seabird neck-like structure without damping materials and (ii) self-propulsive locomotion without actuators using wave-stingray-like wing structures. Unlocking nature’s irregular pattern principles intends to reach beyond classical mechanics to develop thin, segmented, curved, and light multifunctional structures without compromising structural reliability, stability, or control. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.