The 2nd Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics Summer Research Institute was held from June 23 to July 31, 2015, at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The institute hosted 25 graduate students and 14 staff and faculty mentors from 11 countries and 17 universities. Students participated in 7 research projects focused on various aspects of interfacial mechanics, jointed structures, and other nonlinear mechanics and dynamics problems. The preliminary results from the institute will be presented at the 2015 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference in Boston on August 5, 2015.
Timothy Truster served both as a member of the organizing committee and as a faculty mentor for two student research groups. The first research project was a round robin comparison of numerical techniques for structural dynamics with nonlinearities. The students employed harmonic balance and transient simulation methods to predict the behavior of a beam containing a bolted joint. The second research project investigated the propagation of stress waves through jointed connections. The students compared quasi-static and transient numerical models for flexural and torsional loads applied to the same jointed beam. The numerical studies by these groups were complemented by experiments performed by other student teams on actual specimens of the jointed beam. Truster participated remotely in weekly project meetings to help direct the students. He also traveled to the institute during the weeks of July 13–24, 2015 to interact with the students and other international collaborators.
The third annual institute is currently being planned for summer 2016 to continue the studies on the dynamics of bolted structures and other nonlinear mechanics problems.