Hao has worked hard over the past two years to flip current testing trends to see how pure rolling (the onset of RCF) affects subsequent wear. Look for a paper later this year!
New paper: Latching of the click beetle (Coleoptera: Elateridae) thoracic hinge enabled by the morphology and mechanics of conformal structures
When you see these images of the beetle peg morphology, doesn’t it make you wonder about the contact mechanics? Us too! In this work by Ophelia and Lihua, we describe how the snap of the click beetle is enabled by the rigid peg. But we also say that the contact mechanics matter. So interesting how […]
Can you find us the midst of all this great work? MechSE highlights!
If this video doesn’t make you want to visit, watch it again :) https://t.co/onmeJnRYgW
TWO lab members selected as 2019-2020 Mavis Future Faculty Fellows!
Preparing for a life in academia has many aspects, none of which a single mentor can adequately cover! Illinois offers 30 students throughout the Grainger College of Engineering a fellowship and two semesters of workshops and assignments to cover more of the bases; it’s the Mavis Future Faculty Fellows Academy. I’m ecstatic to report that […]
Click beetle work presented at SICB 2019, Tampa
My collaborators Aimy and her student Ophelia presented two great talks about our ongoing work understanding how energy is generated and leveraged in the snap maneuvers of click beetles! Check out our prior paper for more details, and be on the lookout for at least 2 more publications this year! Many thanks to Sheila Patek […]
Congratulations to Shab and Chris for their entrance into PhD candidacy!
All PhD students in the lab had big leaps forward this semester.
Congratulations to Jiho on successfully passing his Prelim Exam!
Thank you to the faculty committee for their excellent feedback and guidance on Jiho’s presentation: “Lubrication mechanics in loosened polymer networks of polyacrylamide surfaces.”
Jiho takes wear to Booker T. Washington STEM Academy
Two weeks ago Jiho had the opportunity to participate in ‘Paper2Tree’ in which the lab supports the planting of a tree in the community to give back after publishing a journal articles. Following Jiho’s paper modeling duration-dependent lubrication earlier this year, he selected a Shingle Oak to be planted in King Park, and also led […]
Congrats to Lihua on his poster award @ TFC 2018!
Professor Dunn, Lihua, and visiting scholar Chao had a great time in downtown Chicago for the Tribology Frontiers Conference organized by Dr. David Burris from the University of Delaware. Professor Dunn presented Prabhakaran & Hao’s work on wear of hardened steels — take a journey under a train to get a feel for it. Lihua […]
Prof. Dunn featured on Illinois Innovators podcast
Thanks for the opportunity to come by! You can listen here on SoundCloud to learn about how surfaces play an important role in design of materials, and why it’s important for the biomedical implants of the future!