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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Pedro Miguel Reis, Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present some recent results from his Lab on the mechanical response of complex-shaped shells subject to loading and in different mechanical environments (with or without an in-out pressure difference). A powerful aspect of Reis' experimental approach is that the geometry and material properties of our shells can be accurately custom-controlled using digital rapid prototyping techniques. First, Reis' team focuses on the linear response of non-spherical shells under indentation to explore the new concept of geometry-induced rigidity. Despite the complex geometries, Reis and his researchers find a remarkable predictive description. Moreover, they investigate universal modes of localization under large displacements. Finally, Reis will introduce a new class of micro-structured shells, the Buckliball, which undergo a structural transformation induced by buckling under pressure loading. The common underlying feature in these various problems is the prominence of geometry in dictating the mechanical response in thin elastic shells.
