Seminar Title: Advanced Metacomposites: Designing Unique Properties for Extraordinary Dynamic Performance

Seminar Abstract:

In this talk, I will first introduce our research group’s three main areas of interests: advanced composites, elastic metamaterials and biomimetic structures. Huge reduction in Arctic ice region in recent years has spurred tremendous interest to explore material performances at extreme low temperature environment. I will present results involving the impact performance and dynamic behavior of composite sandwich structures in low temperature Arctic conditions. The main part of my talk will next be focused on the design and development of locally resonant metamaterials to enact negative effective mass density. This results in extraordinary dynamic performances, including frequency-sensitive wave attenuation, two-dimensional wave redirection and one-way asymmetric wave transmission. Further miniaturization in microstructural design can create nanostructures for THz wave control. We demonstrate the use of branched nanopillars to reduce thermal wave propagation. Our work utilizes a combined analytical, computational and experimental approach to understand the dynamic performances of advanced metacomposites.

Short Bio:

Dr. K.T. Tan is an assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Akron, Ohio, USA. He was a research scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Singapore in 2013-2014. He received his post-doctoral training in 2011-2013 at the Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, working with Prof. C.T. Sun in the area of composite metamaterials. Dr. Tan earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University in 2011, and his B.Eng. and M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Dr. Tan’s primary research interests and expertise lie in the field of composite materials, elastic/mechanical metamaterials, and biomimetic structures, targeting at multi-disciplinary applications in defense, aerospace, energy production and biomedical device development. He has published over 80 research articles in major international conferences and top-tier peer-reviewed journals. He is also the recipient of multiple awards, including the Firestone Research Initiative Fellowship (2018), LaunchTown Entrepreneurship Award (2016), JSPS Invitational Fellowship (2016), the International Commission for Acoustics (ICA) Young Scientist Grant (2013), the Metamaterials Young Researcher Travel Grant Award (2012), Best Poster Prize (6th International Conference on Fracture of Polymers, Composites and Adhesives in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, 2011), A*STAR International Fellowship (2011), Tokyo Metropolitan Government Scholarship (2008), NUS Research Scholarship (2006), etc. Dr. Tan is an active journal reviewer and is presently in the Editorial Board of four international journals. He also holds professional membership in The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Society for Composites (ASC), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and Acoustical Society of America (ASA).

Hosted by Prof. Ryan L. Harne