In scanning display systems, high horizontal and vertical resolution, and high refresh rate requirements translate into large mirror-size scan-angle product and high scanner-frequency requirements. A comparison between published scan-angle mirror-size product values for MEMS scanners and a Steel mechanical scanner is presented. Current performance levels of Steel mechanical scanners are better;...

The influence of Reynolds number on the performance of outboard spoilers and ailerons was investigated on a generic subsonic transport configuration in the National Transonic Facility over a chord Reynolds number range from 3 to 30 million and a Mach number range from 0.70 to 0.94. Spoiler deflection angles of 0, 10, and 20 degrees and aileron deflection angles of -10, 0, and 10 degrees were te...

This paper discusses the application of Castigliano’s Theorem to a half circular beam intended for use as a shaped, tunable, passively compliant robot leg. We present closed-form equations characterizing the deflection behavior of the beam (whose compliance properties vary along the leg) under appropriate loads. We compare the accuracy of this analytical representation to that of a Pseudo Rigid...

The effect of the temperature variation on a unimorph piezoelectric cantilever is studied. Its influences on the thermal expansion, the piezoelectric constant, the transient part and the creep are experimentally analyzed. Afterwards, a H∞ controller is synthesized in order to reject the thermal disturbance and to reach performances required in micromanipulation. Finally, the closed-loop experim...

This paper focuses on a class of robot manipulators termed “continuum” robots—robots that exhibit behavior similar to tentacles, trunks, and snakes. In previous work, we studied details of the mechanical design, kinematics, path-planning and small-deflection dynamics for continuum robots such as the Clemson “Tentacle Manipulator.” In this paper, we discuss the dynamics of a planar continuum bac...

A detailed experimental and numerical investigation has been performed to validate large scale numerical simulations of dynamic crack propagation, branching, deflection, and penetration at interfaces in brittle homogeneous materials. High-speed photography in conjunction with the dynamic photoelasticity has been used to observe real-time failure mode transition mechanism at the interfaces. Wedg...

Judicious and regulated use of wood as a building material is better than that of many other conventional materials in terms of environmental issues of this century. The study of the behavior of wood requires a better understanding of the characteristics in different possible cases of loading including loads applied instantly, loads applied for a short time and loads applied for a long time. Th...

We evaluate two novel reciprocal self-sensing methods for tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) utilizing charge measurement and charge actuation, respectively. A microcantilever, which can be batch fabricated through a standard microelectromechanical system (MEMS) process, is coated with a single piezoelectric layer and simultaneously used for actuation and deflection sensing. The setu...

In this paper, the nonlinear vibration analysis of a thin cylindrical shell made of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) resting on a nonlinear viscoelastic foundation under compressive axial and lateral loads is studied. Nonlinear governing coupled partial differential equations of motions (PDEs) for cylindrical shell are derived using improved Donnell shell theory. The equations of motions (EOM...