Associate Professor Eduard Karpov has been awarded a new $243,185 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) entitled: “Structural Metamaterials with Saint-Venant Edge Effect Reversal for Static Load Pattern Modification and Recognition.” He is the sole principle investigator of the three-year grant that started on Sept. 15, 2016.
The grant supports fundamental research leading to a new class of mechanical metamaterials that, unlike the traditional materials, respond stronger to finer spatial fluctuations in static surface loads than to smooth loads.
Metamaterials refers to an exciting class of man-made material systems with engineered internal structure. Specially designed interactions among individual elements of the internal structure lead to a reversal of certain basic properties of natural materials. These new properties unveil practical opportunities that can be highly beneficial to the society. For example, photonic metamaterials may be used to fabricate ultrathin lenses for medical applications, and acoustic metamaterials can provide highly efficient sound insulation and earthquake hazard mitigation systems.
The mechanical metamaterials will potentially enable position identification of unsafe loading conditions in structures and building foundations, as well as autonomous modification and blockage of spurious load concentrations without human intervention.
The paradigm breaking aspects of this work is geared toward inspiring undergraduate students and underrepresented groups to participate in the proposed research activities.
Learn more about Professor Karpov’s research at Karpov Profile.