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Keynote Lecture Series Archive

Fall, 2026

Flapping Dynamics of Non-Linear Rigid Inverted Flags Using a Cyber-Physical Experimental Setup

Cecilia Huertas-Cerdeira

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

Inverted flags are flat plates that have been mounted on a torsional spring at their trailing edge. When subjected to a flow, they undergo complex dynamics including static and dynamic instabilities, limit cycle oscillations and chaos. Their large-amplitude flapping motion is of particular interest for aeroelastic wind energy harvesting applications. In this work, we evaluate the effect of spring non-linearities on the flag’s behavior and energy harvesting capabilities. For this purpose, a cyber-physical experimental setup has been developed capable of emulating a large variety of structural stiffness and damping properties without modification of experimental hardware. Wind tunnel experiments are used to characterize the flag and flow dynamics, and results show that non-linearity can be leveraged to improve the operational range and harvesting performance of the inverted flag.

Cecilia Huertas-Cerdeira, Asst. Prof. at the University of Maryland.Cecilia Huertas-Cerdeira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Aeronautics from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain) and ENSMA (France) and received her PhD in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Huertas-Cerdeira was the recipient of an NSF CAREER award in 2024 and obtained the ASME Rising Starts in Mechanical Engineering Award in 2025. She has broad research interests in the fields of Unsteady Fluid Mechanics, Fluid-Structure Interaction and Bio-Inspired Design. Her group leverages a combination of experimental, analytical and data-driven tools to tackle problems ranging from underwater robotics to efficient aviation, wind energy harvesting and heat transfer enhancement.

Wednesday, November 4, 2026
3:30 PM
Seaver Science Library, Room 202 (SSL 202)

 

host: Bermejo-Moreno

Published on August 2nd, 2017Last updated on October 29th, 2026