NASA JPL Internship Project
I was tasked with evaluating chainmail solids, a novel damping material developed by a CalTech research lab, for its potential to mitigate shocks and vibrations in aerospace systems. My project spanned hands-on engineering, data analysis, and dynamic model building and simulation to understand how the material performs in aerospace conditions.
Highlights
- Designed a vibrational testing setup for randomized shaking and multi-axis measurement.
- Analyzed modal behavior through MATLAB for signal analysis, dissecting magnitude, phase, coherence, and power spectral density. I also built custom scripts to actually visualize the real modal responses.
- Created and validated a finite element model of the chainmail and test setup.
- Benchmarked chainmail’s damping properties against standard aerospace materials.
- Presented findings with JPL’s dynamics team, highlighting chainmail’s promise for vibration control and inspiring discussions on adaptive structures for space applications.