The Faculty of Engineering Sciences
--  Department of Mechanical Engineering
 
SCHULGASSER, KALMAN
 
Born: 1938, USA
Ph.D.: 1967, Univ. of Penn.; Assoc. Prof. 1983.

Research Interests: Mechanics of solids: the effective properties of 
heterogeneous materials, cross property relationships, thermal expansion, 
piezoelectric effects, micromechanics of composites, mechanical behavior of 
anisotropic materials. Paper physics: influence of fiber morphology on fiber 
and sheet properties, sheet structure­property relationships. Plant 
mechanics: strength, stiffness and stability of plant stems and leaves, 
mechanics of dehiscent fruits.

Abstracts of Current Research
The effective elastic behavior of heterogeneous material: Is intimately 
related to expansion behavior due to change in environmental variables 
(temperature, relative humidity, aging, etc.) and also bears some relationship 
to other physical properties (thermal conductivity, piezoelectric effects, etc.). 
Elastic constant-expansion relationships have been found for anisotropic 
constituents and applied to various systems (carbon fibers, cellulosic 
materials, textured polycrystals composed of orthorhombic or higher 
symmetry single crystals). Similar problems in fibrous piezoelectric 
composites are being considered.
Hollow plant stems : Fail either due to instability in the tube wall or material 
failure, or combination effects. It has been shown that the anisotropic nature 
of the plant tissue is decisive in determining the failure mechanisms and in 
determining optimum properties of the stem geometry. Additionally, the 
influence of nodes on failure is being studied.

Recent Publications
SCHULGASSER, K. Relationships between the effective properties of 
transversely isotropic piezoelectric composites. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 
40:473, 1992.
SCHULGASSER, K. Configuration of a bent tape of curved cross-section. J. 
Applied Mech. 59:692, 1992.
SCHULGASSER, K. and WITZTUM, A. On the strength, stiffness and 
stability of tubular plant stems and leaves. J. Theoretical Biology 155:497, 
1992.
SCHULGASSER, K. A reciprocal theorem in two-dimensional heat transfer 
and its implications. Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer 19:639, 1992.

Key words: Solid mechanics, composite materials.