Background The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is one of the most important characteristics when testing materials in order to understand their behavior when it comes to temperature change. The CTE is the rate at which a material expands with an increase in temperature. It is determined at a constant pressure without a phase change within the...

­Soft robotics is a growing field of study encompassing biology, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Soft robots can be used for safe and adaptive interaction with humans and harsh environments, manipulation of delicate objects, navigation through a confined space, and actuation with multiple degrees of freedom. One key element in soft...

In the realm of quadrupedal locomotion, there's a growing interest in understanding the concept of passive leg stiffness. This stiffness, when tuned correctly, can significantly influence a robot's locomotion dynamics and performance. However, integrating passive stiffness into quadruped robots has been challenging due to complexities in design,...

Background Effective ground improvement methods are essential for optimal utilization of land, whether they be roads, embankments, dunes, or slopes. Conventional methods using compaction, pile insertion, and cement-soil mixing provide adequate stability but have several major drawbacks. They are often expensive, time-consuming, require specialized...

Background Recent efforts to address climate change and develop a clean-energy economy in the United States have focused on the electrification of the transportation sector. Sustainable battery manufacturing has become a critical part of these efforts, and current manufacturing practices face challenges relating to environmental impact, advancing electrode...

Background Fracture toughness tests measure the ability of a material to resist propagation of a pre-existing flaw. This is an important material property in the manufacturing industry, since the avoidance of all flaws is not possible. Mixed Mode Bending (MMB) is a previously developed fixture that investigates the fracture toughness of layered materials...

­Potential Applications • CO2 capture from ambient air • CO2 concentration for industrial use Benefits and Advantages • Lower operating costs due to self-heating process • Process requires only air, water, and electrical energy as inputs • Fully contained from capture through concentration/compression Invention...

Current portable and wearable devices use fingerprint analysis for secure authentication. The fingerprint pattern systems analyze only the surface morphology of the fingerprint, making it easy for hackers to spoof and bypass authentication. RF signals can collect tissue information beyond the surface of the finger and can provide increased security...

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a multi-billion dollar U.S. industry, is the process of drilling and injecting pressurized fluid into the ground to crack deep rock formations and extract trapped natural gas. The high costs associated with the fracking due to the lack of proper modeling has prompted scientists to develop methods of approximating the...