Graduate Research

At the University of Central Florida (UCF), I have had the amazing opportunity to work with deployable structures since my undergrad. This has led me to my thesis research in the Structures and Materials Design Lab. For this work, I am studying the buckling response of a single shell carbon fiber epoxy composite collapsible tubular mast (CTM) boom designed for solar sail deployment.

My research follows three main focuses:

• Finite element simulations of the buckling response, in different bending patterns, and in the elastic and viscoelastic regimes
• Designing and validating new clamps to use with a column bending test (CBT) for an unreformed boom
• Experimentally produce buckling on a CTM with a CBT and analysis the results and validating the finite element analysis (FEA)

So far I have created and refined several FEA models using Abaqus. Crafted carbon fiber composites through the hand layup method and vacuum bag molding. Planned two different clamp designs for CBT testing with SoildWorks, and have tested both designs.