Dynamics of slender structures carrying a moving mass

Gert van der Heijden， Professor of Nonlinear Dynamics Dept of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering University College London

Nonlinear mechanics of slender elastic structures (strings, rods, strips): post-buckling behaviour,large deformations, bifurcation, (multi-pulse)localisation, statical and dynamicalstability, self-contact, writhing, whirling, boundary layers, topological properties such aslink and writhe,discontinuities (kinks), braiding. Applications in engineering (pipe lay,twisted cables, space tethers, drill strings, wire rope, rotated and transported textile yarn,nanotube junctions) and biology (DNA supercoiling, cholesterol ribbons, collagen fibres).
Stress localisation in thin sheets and shells: large-deformation behaviour of thin sheetsand shells, instabilities/failure due to wrinkling, creasing and tearing (e.g., in deployablestructures). Generally the interaction between geometry (shape) and mechanics (strength).
Computational (numerical as well as analytical) nonlinear dynamics: continuation andbifurcation analysis, normal forms, Hamiltonian mechanics, constrained calculus of variations,integrability, Melnikov methods, coupled oscillators, chaotic dynamics, computersoftware.

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