Mercedes Reaves
Encyclopedia
Mercedes Reaves is a Puerto Rican
research
engineer
and scientist
. She is responsible for the design of a viable full-scale solar sail
and the development and testing of a scale model solar sail at NASA
Langley Research Center
in Virginia
.
, where she received her primary
and secondary education
. She enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
, where she obtained a bachelor of science
degree
in Mechanical Engineering
. She continued her graduate education in the Old Dominion University
.
, Reaves has been involved in the research on modeling and validation of smart structures, the implementation of probabilistic analysis tools for dynamic model updates, simulation of ground-induced vibration of the HSCT (High Speed Civil Transport) as it traversed a typical runway and experiments to determine static and dynamic properties of advanced aircraft tires
On August 2001 Reaves participated in a flight experiment called the Aero-structures Test Wing (ATW), conducted at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center
in Edwards, California
. The experiment successfully demonstrated a new software data analysis tool, the flutterometer, which is designed to increase the efficiency of flight flutter testing.
The experiment consisted of an 18-inch carbon fiber test wing with surface-mounted piezoelectric strain actuators. The test wing was mounted on a special ventral flight test fixture and flown on Dryden’s F-15B Research Testbed aircraft. At each Mach number
and altitude, stability estimations of the wing were made using accelerometer measurements in response to the piezoelectric actuator excitation.
Placement of the piezoelectric actuators was determined by Reaves to maximize their effectiveness. Piezoelectric actuators are devices that produce a small displacement with a high force capability when voltage is applied. The actuators were moved at different magnitudes and frequency levels to induce wing vibrations and excite the dynamics during flight. The ATW experiment represents the first time that piezoelectric actuators were used during a flight flutter test.
She is currently the Research Engineer assigned to the Structural Dynamics Branch in the Structures and Materials Competency. As such, she conducts analytical and experimental research on vibration and dynamics of complex aerospace structures both individually and as a team member. This work requires application of state of the art advanced analytical methods to predict the dynamic response of complex aircraft and spacecraft configurations and validation of improved methodologies by correlating predicted results with experimental data from laboratory investigations
In her current assignment, she is responsible for the design of a viable full-scale solar sail and the development and testing of a scale model solar sail. She must select and apply tools to analyze complex thin film structures characterized by wrinkling, geometric and material nonlinear behavior. She is also responsible for planning experimental studies to validate analytical techniques and study solar sails dynamics.
Report Number: L-17009, NAS 1.154293, NASA-TM-4293
Report Number: AIAA PAPER 92-1178
Report Number: NAS 1.15109059, NASA-TM-109059, NIPS-95-06374
Document ID: 20040110282
Report Number: Paper 3316-21
Report Number: L-17901, NAS 1.15209531, NASA TM-1999-209531
Report Number: AIAA Paper 2001-1466
Report Number: L-18097, NAS 1.15211039, NASA TM-2001-211039
Report Number: AIAA Paper 2002-1349, H-2482, NAS 1.15210724, NASA TM-2002-210724
Report Number: L-19005, NAS 1.15212651, NASA TM-2003-212651
Report Number: NASA TM-2004-213232
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
. She is responsible for the design of a viable full-scale solar sail
Solar sail
Solar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
and the development and testing of a scale model solar sail at NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Early years
Reaves was born and raised in Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, where she received her primary
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
and secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. She enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...
, where she obtained a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
. She continued her graduate education in the Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
.
Career in NASA
During her career in NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, Reaves has been involved in the research on modeling and validation of smart structures, the implementation of probabilistic analysis tools for dynamic model updates, simulation of ground-induced vibration of the HSCT (High Speed Civil Transport) as it traversed a typical runway and experiments to determine static and dynamic properties of advanced aircraft tires
On August 2001 Reaves participated in a flight experiment called the Aero-structures Test Wing (ATW), conducted at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center
Dryden Flight Research Center
The Dryden Flight Research Center , located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. Dryden, a prominent aeronautical engineer who at the time of his death in 1965 was NASA's deputy administrator...
in Edwards, California
Edwards, California
Edwards is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California.It is located east-southeast of Mojave, at an elevation of 2356 feet ....
. The experiment successfully demonstrated a new software data analysis tool, the flutterometer, which is designed to increase the efficiency of flight flutter testing.
The experiment consisted of an 18-inch carbon fiber test wing with surface-mounted piezoelectric strain actuators. The test wing was mounted on a special ventral flight test fixture and flown on Dryden’s F-15B Research Testbed aircraft. At each Mach number
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
and altitude, stability estimations of the wing were made using accelerometer measurements in response to the piezoelectric actuator excitation.
Placement of the piezoelectric actuators was determined by Reaves to maximize their effectiveness. Piezoelectric actuators are devices that produce a small displacement with a high force capability when voltage is applied. The actuators were moved at different magnitudes and frequency levels to induce wing vibrations and excite the dynamics during flight. The ATW experiment represents the first time that piezoelectric actuators were used during a flight flutter test.
Currently
In her current assignment, she is responsible for the design of a viable full-scale solar sail and the development and testing of a scale model solar sail. She must select and apply tools to analyze complex thin film structures characterized by wrinkling, geometric and material nonlinear behavior. She is also responsible for planning experimental studies to validate analytical techniques and study solar sails dynamics.
Written works
Among the technical reports which she has co-authored are:- Finite-element-analysis model and preliminary ground testing of controls-structures interaction evolutionary model reflector (1992)
Report Number: L-17009, NAS 1.154293, NASA-TM-4293
- Dynamics and control of a large displacement suspension system for ground testing of flexible space structures (1992)
Report Number: AIAA PAPER 92-1178
- Langley's CSI evolutionary model Phase 2 (1995)
Report Number: NAS 1.15109059, NASA-TM-109059, NIPS-95-06374
- Aeroservoelastic and Structural Dynamics Research on Smart Structures Conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (1997)
Document ID: 20040110282
- Aeroservoelastic and Structural Dynamics Research on Smart Structures Conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (1998)
Report Number: Paper 3316-21
- Taxiing, Take-Off, and Landing Simulation of the High Speed Civil Transport Aircraft (1999)
Report Number: L-17901, NAS 1.15209531, NASA TM-1999-209531
- Test Cases for Modeling and Validation of Structures with Piezoelectric Actuators (2001)
Report Number: AIAA Paper 2001-1466
- A Probabilistic Approach to Model Update (2001)
Report Number: L-18097, NAS 1.15211039, NASA TM-2001-211039
- Ground and Flight Test Structural Excitation Using Piezoelectric Actuators (2002)
Report Number: AIAA Paper 2002-1349, H-2482, NAS 1.15210724, NASA TM-2002-210724
- Piezoelectric Actuator Modeling Using MSC NASTRAN and MATLAB (2003)
Report Number: L-19005, NAS 1.15212651, NASA TM-2003-212651
- Model Update of a Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Flexible Wing Frame with Uncertainty Quantification (2004)
Report Number: NASA TM-2004-213232
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
- List of Puerto Ricans in the United States Space Program
- University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez people