Vibration and Acoustics Engineering Laboratory

Welcome to the Vibration and Acoustics Engineering Laboratory (VAEL). We research how we can control and harness the flow of mechanical energy through the world around us.

Current Projects

Research at VAEL solves engineering problems at the intersection of acoustics, smart structures, and structural dynamics.

Intelligent Acoustic Metamaterials

Metamaterials are architected structures that exhibit exotic effective properties, such as negative dynamic mass or negative dynamic stiffness. These exotic properties dramatically change the ways that energy propagates through the metamaterial, allowing waves to be blocked, filtered, or redirected in a designed way. This research aims to develop active, intelligent metamaterial systems with reconfigurable and self-adapting effective properties. These systems have significant applications in vibration control, sensing and healthcare, among others.

Wave Devices

Recent research has developed unprecedented levels of control over the way that waves propagate through different media. This research aims to develop and explore reconfigurable wave devices in impactful engineering applications, such as biomedical ultrasound, non-destructive testing and implantable medical devices.

People

Christopher Sugino (csugino) Dr. Christopher Sugino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. His research focuses on elastic and acoustic wave propagation in smart structures and metamaterials, with applications in noise/vibration control, aerospace engineering, and biomedical ultrasound. His recent work has considered metamaterials with digitally programmable material properties and wave propagation in the human skull. He is a recipient of the 2020 Sigma Xi Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from Georgia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2019 and his B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2015.

Publications

Journal Publications

Google Scholar Page

Santini, J., Sugino, C., Riva, E., and Erturk, A., 2022, "Harnessing Rainbow Trapping via Hybrid Electromechanical Metastructures for Enhanced Energy Harvesting and Vibration Attenuation," Journal of Applied Physics, 132, 064903. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0090258.
Alfahmi, O., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2022, "Duffing-type Digitally Programmable Nonlinear Synthetic Inductance for Piezoelectric Structures," Smart Materials and Structures, 31, 095044. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-665X/ac858b.
Allam, A., Alfahmi, O., Patel, H., Sugino, C., Harding, M., M. Ruzzene, and Erturk, A., 2022, "Ultrasonic Testing of Thick and Thin Inconel 625 of Thick and Thin Inconel 625 Alloys Manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion," Ultrasonics, 125, 106780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2022.106780.
Sugino, C., Gerbe, R., Baca, E., Reinke, C., Ruzzene, M., Erturk, A., and El-kady, I., "Machined Phononic Crystals to Block High-Order Lamb Waves and Crosstalk in Through-Metal Ultrasonic Communication Systems," Applied Physics Letters, 120, 191705. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0083380.
Alshaqaq, M., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2022, "Programmable Rainbow Trapping and Bandgap Enhancement via Spatial Group Velocity Tailoring in Elastic Metamaterials," Physical Review Applied, 17, L021003. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.L021003.
Khattak, M., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2022, "Concurrent Vibration Attenuation and Low-power Electricity Generation in a Locally Resonant Metastructure," Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, published online. https://doi.org/10.1177/1045389X211072517.
Allam, A., Sugino, C., Harding, M., Bishop, P., Erturk, A., and M. Ruzzene, 2021, "Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing of Inconel 625 Produced by Selective Laser Melting," ASME Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnostics and Prognostics of Engineering Systems, 4, 041006. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4050963.
Mazzotti, M., Sugino, C., Kohtanen, E., Erturk, A., and Ruzzene, M., 2021, "Experimental Identification of High Order Lamb Waves and Estimation of the Mechanical Properties of a Dry Human Skull," Ultrasonics, 113, 106343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106343.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2021, "Experimental and Computational Investigation of Guided Waves in a Human Skull," Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 47, pp. 787-798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.11.019.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2020, "Nonreciprocal Piezoelectric Metamaterial Framework and Circuit Strategies," Physical Review B, 102, 014304. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.014304.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2020, "Digitally Programmable Resonant Elastic Metamaterials," Physical Review Applied, 13, 061001. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.061001.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2020, "An Analytical Framework for Bandgap Formation in Locally Resonant Piezoelectric Metamaterial Plates," International Journal of Solids and Structures, 182, pp. 281-294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2019.08.011.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2018, "Design and Analysis of Piezoelectric Metamaterial Beams with Synthetic Impedance Shunt Circuits," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 23, pp. 2144-2155. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2018.2863257.
Sousa, V.C., Sugino, C., De Marqui, Jr., C., and Erturk, A., 2018, "Adaptive Locally Resonant Metamaterials Leveraging Shape Memory Alloys," Journal of Applied Physics, 124, 064505. (Editor's Pick) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5031168.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2018, "Merging Mechanical and Electromechanical Bandgaps in Locally Resonant Metamaterials and Metastructures," Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 116, pp. 323-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2018.04.005.
Sugino, C. and Erturk, A., 2018, "Analysis of Multifunctional Piezoelectric Metastructures for Low-Frequency Bandgap Formation and Energy Harvesting," Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51, 215103. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/aab97e.
Sugino, C., Xia, Y., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "A General Theory for Bandgap Estimation in Locally Resonant Metastructures," Journal of Sound and Vibration, 406, pp. 104-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2017.06.004.
Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "An Investigation of Electroelastic Bandgap Formation in Locally Resonant Piezoelectric Metastructures," Smart Materials and Structures, 26, 055029. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361665X/aa6671.
Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2016, "On the Mechanism of Bandgap Formation in Locally Resonant Finite Elastic Metamaterials," Journal of Applied Physics, 120, 134501. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4963648.

Conference Proceedings

Sugino, C., Oxandale, S., Allam, A., Arrington, C., St. John, C., Baca, E., Steinfeldt, J., Swift, S.H., Reinke, C., Erturk, A., and El-Kady, I., 2021, "Experimental Validation of Crosstalk Minimization in Metallic Barriers with Simultaneous Ultrasonic Power and Data Transfer," Proceedings of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 11-16 September 2021 (virtual symposium).
Allam, A., Patel, H., Sugino, C., Arrington, C., St. John, C., Steinfeldt, J., Erturk, A., and El-Kady, I., 2021, "Detachable Dry-Coupled Ultrasonic Power Transfer Through Metallic Enclosures," Proceedings of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 11-16 September 2021 (virtual symposium).
Kohtanen, E., Sugino, C., Allam, A., Erturk, A., and El-Kady, I., 2021, "Computational Optimization of Mechanical Energy Transduction (COMET) Toolkit," Proceedings of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 11-16 September 2021 (virtual symposium).
Sugino, C., Alshaqaq, M., and Erturk, A., 2021, "Programmable Piezoelectric Acoustic Black Hole for Wavelength Control and Enhanced Sensing," Proceedings of the 28th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 22-26 March 2021 (virtual conference).
Alshaqaq, M., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2021, "Rainbow Trapping of Elastic Waves in a Programmable Metamaterial Beam," Proceedings of the 28th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 22-26 March 2021 (virtual conference).
Khattak, M.M., Sugino, C., and Erturk, A., 2021, "Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting on a Locally Resonant Metastructure," Proceedings of the 28th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 22-26 March 2021 (virtual conference).
Sugino, C., Xia, Y., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2020, "Elastic Wave Manipulation Using Programmable Piezoelectric Metamaterials," Proceedings of the 13th ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, 15 September 2020 (virtual conference).
Sugino, C., Gerbe, R., Reinke, C., Ruzzene, M., Erturk, A., and El-Kady, I., 2020, "Ultrasonic Communication Through a Metallic Barrier: Transmission Modeling and Crosstalk Minimization," Proceedings of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 6-11 September 2020 (virtual symposium).
Mazzotti, M., Sugino, C., Erturk, A., and Ruzzene, M., 2020, "Matrix Pencil Estimation of Guided Waves Dispersion in a Human Skull," Proceedings of the IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 6-11 September 2020 (virtual symposium).
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2019, "An Analytical Framework for Kirchhoff Plate-Type Locally Resonant Piezoelectric Metastructures," Proceedings of the 26th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Denver, CO, 3-7 March 2019.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2018, "Dispersion Tailoring in Varying-Inductance Piezoelectric Metamaterials," Proceedings of the 25th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Denver, CO, 4-8 March 2018.
Sousa, V., Sugino, C., De Marqui, Jr., C., and Erturk, A., 2018, "Locally Resonant Metamaterials with Shape-Memory Alloy Springs," Proceedings of the 25th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Denver, CO, 4-8 March 2018.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "Dynamics of Hybrid Mechanical-Electromechanical Locally Resonant Metastructures," Proceedings of the 10th ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Snowbird, UT, 18-20 September 2017.
Sugino, C., Guillot, V., and Erturk, A., 2017, "Multifunctional Energy Harvesting Locally Resonant Metastructures," Proceedings of the 10th ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Snowbird, UT, 18-20 September 2017.
Sugino, C., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "Merging Mechanical and Electromechanical Locally Resonant Bandgaps in Metamaterials," Proceedings of the 8th ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Smart Structures and Materials, Madrid, Spain, 5-8 June 2017.
Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "Piezoelectric Metamaterials with Synthetic Impedance Shunts," Proceedings of the 24th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Portland, OR, 25-29 March 2017.
Schmied, J., Sugino, C., Bergamini, A., Ermanni, P., and Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2017, "Toward Structurally-Integrated Locally Resonant Metamaterials for Vibration Attenuation," Proceedings of the 24th SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Portland, OR, 25-29 March 2017.
Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2016, "Electroelastic Bandgap Formation in Locally Resonant Metamaterial Beams with Piezoelectric Shunts: A Modal Analysis Approach," Proceedings of the 9th ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, Stowe, VT, 28-30 September 2016.
Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., Ruzzene, M., and Erturk, A., 2016, "Modal Analysis of Bandgap Formation for Vibration Attenuation in Locally Resonant Finite Beams," Proceedings of the ASME 2016 IDETC 28th Biennial Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise, Charlotte, NC, 22-24 August 2016 (Best Student Paper Award, 2nd place).
Tan, D., Sugino, C., Leadenham, S., and Erturk, A., 2016, "Dramatic Effect of Fluid Damping on the Performance of a Nonlinear M-Shaped Broadband Energy Harvester," Proceedings of the 23rd SPIE Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials & Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, Las Vegas, NV, 20-24 March 2016.

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Current Openings

We are looking for motivated students interested in vibration and acoustics research. Background in vibration, acoustics, mechatronics, control theory or electrical engineering is a plus. If you are interested in joining our group, please email your resume/CV to Christopher Sugino at [email protected]. Prospective graduate students should follow Stevens' application process, requirements and deadlines at the graduate admission webpage.

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