DYnamic behavior of interactive materials
My research is aimed at the development of meta-material with special mechanical properties. More specifically, material with high stiffness ratios and improved damping abilities.
Background
My degrees are in Mechanical Engineering (BSc, MSc, PhD) from the University of Twente. During my PhD, I have developed models for flexure mechanisms that are used in precision applications.
The analytical and numerical models offer a better understanding of the relationship between design and performance. The techniques I learned for modelling and designing flexure mechanisms have a natural extension to meta-material when the feature size decreases.
In the years to come
In a team with PhD candidates and master students, we are creating the tools for designing mechanical meta-materials. We will be creating material with increased dynamic performance by equipping the cells of the structure with sensing and actuation capabilities. Through a suitable control strategy, it will be possible to actively dampen problematic resonance modes, without the need for the heavy conventional passive damping solutions. This can improve mechatronics performance of motion and positioning systems.
Furthermore, we will be investigating designs that have a highly anisotropic stiffness. These directionally compliant materials can be considered as an extension of traditional flexure mechanisms, and offer better use of volume constraints as they essentially have arbitrary bulk shape.
Modeling plays an important role, because it helps us understand how the design of an individual cell determines the behavior of the material that is created by repetitions of that cell. To deal with the large number of elements, we are developing efficient modelling approaches and model reduction techniques that decrease the computation burden. We are also developing models for use in the interaction with other physical domains.
Education
I am giving lectures in various courses in the Mechanical Engineering bachelor and master program. I am also responsible for the Precision Engineering course in the UT-VU bachelor program. My lectures generally revolve around the use of structural mechanical models for the purpose of insightful design and control. Besides lecturing, I am supervising master students during their graduation projects and co-developing modelling software that is used throughout the bachelor and master program.
Collaborations
I’m involved in several collaborative projects. As a co-supervisor in a PhD-project with RaM at the EEMCS faculty, a EngD-project with IMS and a TTW HTSM PhD-project with Delft University of Technology, ASML, VDL Group, PI and DEMCON. In addition, I co-supervise various master assignments with ASML and NOVA ASTRON. Furthermore I am a co-author of a book with Stuart Smith (UNC Charlotte), Dannis Brouwer (University of Twente) and Kumar Arumugam (JQI, NIST - Univ. Maryland).