Putting the “S” into mechanics

Professor Keith Seffen

Putting the “S” into mechanics

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.

Professor Keith Seffen is Professor of Engineering Mechanics and supervises topics in Structural- and Mechanical Engineering at Corpus Christi College.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre, Yusef Hamied Department of Chemistry, (entrance to lecture theatre, adjacent to the Scott Polar Research Institute), 29 Lensfield Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom

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