Putting the “S” into mechanics - Professor Keith Seffen

The structural mechanics of shape-changing structures: from bending armadillos, self-deploying satellites, to roll-up displays.

Most structures, e.g. buildings & bridges, are designed to be near rigid when loaded: in view of high winds or heavy traffic, their movements are barely noticeable. Formally, they are stiff, strong and stable, in terms of their “structural mechanics” – the study of their loaded deformation. Large movements from material weakness, overloading, or bad design, typically portend failure & eventual collapse. Embracing large movements, i.e. deliberate changes in shape, can admit new behaviour if safe and reversible, to yield transformer-like technologies and simple explanations of biological morphology, for example. In this talk, I will describe several structural mechanics principles for making shape-changing structures, out of ordinary materials, complete with physical demonstrations.

You may also like the following events from Cambridge Philosophical Society:

• Next Wednesday, 10th September, 12:00 am, The 8th Biennial Cambridge Neuroscience Symposium, Interventions & Recovery in Cambridge
• This month, 30th September, 11:30 am, Research Café: Science Communication in Cambridge
• Next month, 13th October, 06:00 pm, Our Chiral Universe - Professor David Tong in Cambridge