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Matthew Brake headshot

Matthew Brake

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

CONTACT

brake@rice.edu

WEBSITE(S)| https://mech.rice.edu/users/brake

SURF Mentoring

Potential projects/topics: We have a range of topics within the areas of mechanics, dynamics, and tribology - both experimental and computational. Previous SURF interns have worked on projects such as characterizing elastomers for use in an electric aircraft engine and conducting impact experiments to guide the design of stronger composite tiles for spacecraft.

Potential skills gained: These vary by project - 3D printing, CAD modeling, FEA, experimental testing for dynamics, mechanics, and tribology, etc.

Required qualifications: None - projects are tailored to a student's interest and capabilities.

Direct mentor: Faculty/P.I., Post-doctorate, Graduate Student

Student Project Titles List

Modeling and Experimental Characterization of a Low-Profile Mass-Spring-Damper System for Minimizing Vibrations

The Effects of Dip Coatings on the Contact Surfaces between Brake-Reuss Beams

Is the molecular structure of a material the main contributing factor behind its vibrational damping ratio?

Composition of an In Situ Test for Modeling O-ring Stiffness and Damping

Research Areas

The central question of Dr. Brake’s research is how can we design and predict the response of an assembled structure that contains strong nonlinearities. This research is strongly motivated by the aerospace, defense, and automotive industries. To this end, the focus of Dr. Brake’s recent research has been constitutive modeling for impact dynamics, joint mechanics, the application of additive manufacturing for designing system level assemblies, and the application of a branch of complex number theory (termed hyper dual numbers) to developing parameterized models. Presently, there are multiple positions available in Dr. Brake’s Mechadynamics Laboratory, including (but not limited to) interfacial mechanics, application of complex number theory to mechanical engineering, and additive manufacturing.