Henri P. Gavin

Research Themes

Aerodynamics & Aeroelasticity, Robotics & Autonomy

Education

• B.S.E. Princeton University, 1986
• M.Sc.Eng. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1988
• Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994

Positions

• Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• W. H. Gardner, Jr. Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
• Bass Fellow

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Bass Connections Award for Outstanding Leadership. Bass Connections. 2023
• Earl I Brown II Outstanding Civil Engineering Faculty Award. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. 2013
• Yoh Family Bass Professor. Duke University. 2013
• President's Award. New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering. 2010
• Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award (ADUTA). Duke University. 2008
• ASEE Southeast Mid-Career Teaching Award. American Society for Engineering Education. 2007
• W.H. Gardner Bass Professor. Duke University. 2006
• Klein Family Teaching Award. School of Engineering. 2006
• Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize. American Society of Civil Engineers. 2005
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences, fellowship. JSPS. 2002
• Packard Grant Finalist. Packard Foundation. 1997
• Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. Oak Ridge Associated Universities. 1996
• Early CAREER award. National Science Foundation. 1996

Courses Taught

• ISS 796T: Bass Connections Information, Society & Culture Research Team
• ISS 795T: Bass Connections Information, Society & Culture Research Team
• ISS 396T: Bass Connections Information, Society & Culture Research Team
• ISS 395T: Bass Connections Information, Society & Culture Research Team
• CEE 201L: Uncertainty Design and Optimization

Publications

• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Computationally Efficient Tracking Control of Differential Drive Wheeled Mobile Robots. In: Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2023. p. 891–6.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Decentralized Control of Multiagent Navigation Systems. IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica. 2022 May 1;9(5):922–5.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Gauss's Principle with Inequality Constraints for Multiagent Navigation and Control. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control. 2022 Feb 1;67(2):810–23.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Decentralized Unified Position-Attitude Control of Nonlinear UAVs. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 2022. p. 5214–9.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Unified Position-Attitude Control of A Nonlinear Quadrotor Swarm. In: Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2022. p. 4030–5.
• Huang L, Micolier A, Gavin HP, Jolliet O. Modeling chemical releases from building materials: The search for extended validity domain and parsimony. Building Simulation. 2021 Aug 1;14(4):1277–93.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Unified Position and Attitude Control of A Fully Nonlinear Quadrotor*. In: Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2021. p. 1064–9.
• Zhang B, Gavin HP. Natural Deadlock Resolution for Multi-agent Multi-Swarm Navigation. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 2021. p. 5958–63.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Rolling Resistance of a Hard Sphere on Rubber Sheets: Limitations of Linear Viscoelastic Modeling and Influence of Nonlinearities. International Journal of Applied Mechanics. 2019 Aug 1;11(7).
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. The effect of boundary condition variations on the rolling resistance of a hard sphere on rubber sheets. International Journal of Applied Mechanics. 2019 Jun 1;11(5).
• Tehrani MH, Harvey PS, Gavin HP, Mirza AM. Inelastic condensed dynamic models for estimating seismic demands for buildings. Engineering Structures. 2018 Dec 15;177:616–29.
• Scruggs JT, Gavin HP. Earthquake Response Control for Civil Structures. In: The Control Handbook: Second Edition. 2018. p. 30-1-30–26.
• Scruggs JT, Gavin HP. Earthquake Response Control for Civil Structures. In: Control System Applications, Second Edition. 2018. p. 30-1-30–26.
• Kuang A, Sridhar A, Garven J, Gutschmidt S, Rodgers GW, Chase JG, et al. Christchurch Women's Hospital: Performance Analysis of the Base-Isolation System during the Series of Canterbury Earthquakes 2011-2012. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. 2016 Aug 1;30(4).
• Rinker JM, Gavin HP, Clifton A, Veers PS, Kilcher LF. Temporal Coherence: A Model for Non-stationarity in Natural and Simulated Wind Records. Boundary-Layer Meteorology. 2016 May 1;159(2):373–89.
• Kelly KC, Gavin HP. Nonholonomically constrained dynamics of rolling isolation systems. In: Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. 2016. p. 339–46.
• Yin B, Gavin H. Inelastic base shear reconstruction from sparse acceleration measurements of buildings. In: Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. 2016. p. 163–73.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. Assessment of a rolling isolation system using reduced order structural models. Engineering Structures. 2015 Sep 5;99:708–25.
• Rinker JM, Gavin HP. Subspace identification of a 5 MW reference wind turbine. In: Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. 2015. p. 23–9.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. Truly isotropic biaxial hysteresis with arbitrary knee sharpness. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. 2014 Oct 25;43(13):2051–7.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. Double rolling isolation systems: A mathematical model and experimental validation. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics. 2014 May 1;61:80–92.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Rolling resistance of a rigid sphere with viscoelastic coatings. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2014 Feb 1;51(3–4):822–38.
• Scott Harvey P, Gavin HP. Assessing the Accuracy of Vision-Based Accelerometry. Experimental Mechanics. 2014 Jan 1;54(2):273–7.
• Sridhar A, Kuang A, Garven J, Gutschmidt S, Chase JG, Gavin HP, et al. Christchurch women's hospital: Analysis of measured earthquake data during the 2011-2012 Christchurch earthquakes. Earthquake Spectra. 2014 Jan 1;30(1):383–400.
• Harvey PS, Zehil GP, Gavin HP. Experimental validation of a model for a rolling isolation system. In: NCEE 2014 - 10th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering: Frontiers of Earthquake Engineering. 2014.
• Gavin HP, Coar M, Gutschmidt S, Rodgers G, Nigbor R. Seismic response of the Christchurch Women's Hopsital on 23 December 2011. In: NCEE 2014 - 10th US National Conference on Earthquake Engineering: Frontiers of Earthquake Engineering. 2014.
• Rinker JM, Gavin HP. Including SN-curve uncertainty in fatigue reliability analyses of wind turbines. In: Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. 2014. p. 375–81.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP, Scruggs JT, Rinker JM. Determining the physical limits on semi-active control performance: A tutorial. Structural Control and Health Monitoring. 2014 Jan 1;21(5):803–16.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Two and three-dimensional boundary element formulations of compressible isotropic, transversely isotropic and orthotropic viscoelastic layers of arbitrary thickness, applied to the rolling resistance of rigid cylinders and spheres. European Journal of Mechanics, A/Solids. 2014 Jan 1;44:175–87.
• Harvey PS, Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Experimental validation of a simplified model for rolling isolation systems. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. 2014 Jan 1;43(7):1067–88.
• Harvey PS, Wiebe R, Gavin HP. On the chaotic response of a nonlinear rolling isolation system. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena. 2013 Aug 1;256–257:36–42.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. The nonholonomic and chaotic nature of a rolling isolation system. Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2013 Jul 8;332(14):3535–51.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Simplified approaches to viscoelastic rolling resistance. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2013 Mar 15;50(6):853–62.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Simple algorithms for solving steady-state frictional rolling contact problems in two and three dimensions. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2013 Mar 15;50(6):843–52.
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Three-dimensional boundary element formulation of an incompressible viscoelastic layer of finite thickness applied to the rolling resistance of a rigid sphere. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2013 Mar 15;50(6):833–42.
• Harvey PS, Zéhil G-P, Gavin HP. Experimental validation of a simplified model for rolling isolation systems. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. 2013;
• Zéhil GP, Gavin HP. Unified constitutive modeling of rubber-like materials under diverse loading conditions. International Journal of Engineering Science. 2013 Jan 1;62:90–105.
• Harvey Jr PS, Wiebe R, Gavin HP. On the chaotic response of a nonlinear rolling isolation system. Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena. 2013;
• Scott Harvey Jr P, Gavin HP. Assessing the Accuracy of Vision-Based Accelerometry. Experimental Mechanics. 2013;1–5.
• Zéhil G-P, Gavin HP. Rolling resistance of a rigid sphere with viscoelastic coatings. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 2013;
• Gavin HP, Nigbor RL. Performance of the base-isolated Christchurch women's hospital in the Sep. 4 2010 Dar field earthquake and the Feb.22 2011 Christchurch earthquake. 20th Analysis and Computation Specialty Conference - Proceedings of the Conference. 2012 Sep 17;554–63.
• Harvey PS, Scruggs JT, Gavin HP. A dual method for determining the performance limits of a semiactively constrained control system. Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2012 Jan 1;1549–54.
• Scott Harvey P, Gavin HP, Scruggs JT. Optimal performance of constrained control systems. Smart Materials and Structures. 2012 Jan 1;21(8).
• Cassidy IL, Scruggs JT, Behrens S, Gavin HP. Design and experimental characterization of an electromagnetic transducer for large-scale vibratory energy harvesting applications. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. 2011 Nov 1;22(17):2009–24.
• Gavin HP, Dickinson BW. Generation of uniform-hazard earthquake ground motions. Journal of Structural Engineering. 2011 Mar 1;137(3):423–32.
• Dickinson BW, Gavin HP. Parametric statistical generalization of uniform-hazard earthquake ground motions. Journal of Structural Engineering. 2011 Mar 1;137(3):410–22.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. Approximate solutions to nonlinearly-constrained optimal control problems. Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2011 Jan 1;3122–8.
• Song JK, Gavin HP. Effect of hysteretic smoothness on inelastic response spectra with constant-ductility. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics. 2011 Jan 1;40(7):771–88.
• Gavin HP, Wilkinson G. Preliminary observations of the effects of the 2010 darfield earthquake on the base-isolated christchurch women's hospital. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering. 2010 Jan 1;43(4):360–7.
• Harvey PS, Gavin HP. Performance limits imposed by semi-active damping constraints. Proceedings of the 2010 American Control Conference, ACC 2010. 2010 Jan 1;732–7.
• Anagnostopoulou M, Bruneau M, Gavin HP. Performance of churches during the darfield earthquake of september 4, 2010. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering. 2010 Jan 1;43(4):374–81.
• Kam WY, Pampanin S, Dhakal R, Gavin HP, Roeder C. Seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings in the september 2010 darfield (Canterbury) earthquake. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering. 2010 Jan 1;43(4):340–50.
• Gavin HP, Hoagg JB. Control objectives for seismic simulators. Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2009 Nov 23;3932–7.
• Gavin HP, Yau SC. High-order limit state functions in the response surface method for structural reliability analysis. Structural Safety. 2008 Mar 1;30(2):162–79.
• Gavin HP, Zaicenco A. Performance and reliability of semi-active equipment isolation. Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2007 Sep 25;306(1–2):74–90.
• Aldemir U, Gavin HP. Optimal semiactive control of structures with isolated base. International Applied Mechanics. 2006 Feb 1;42(2):235–40.
• Narasimhan S, Nagarajaiah S, Johnson EA, Gavin HP. Smart base-isolated benchmark building. Part I: Problem definition. Structural Control and Health Monitoring. 2006;13(2–3):573–88.
• Alhan C, Gavin HP, Aldemir U. Optimal control: Basis for performance comparison of passive and semiactive isolation systems. Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 2006;132(7):705–13.
• Alhan C, Gavin HP. Reliability of base isolation for the protection of critical equipment from earthquake hazards. Engineering Structures. 2005 Aug 1;27(9):1435–49.
• Gavin HP, Alhan C. Guidelines for low-transmissibility semi-active vibration isolation. Smart Materials and Structures. 2005 Apr 1;14(2):297–306.
• Gavin HP, Aldemir U. Optimal control of earthquake response using semiactive isolation. Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 2005;131(8):769–76.
• Aldemir U, Gavin H. Comparison of semi-active dampers in seismic isolation. Structures - A Structural Engineering Odyssey, Structures 2001 - Proceedings of the 2001 Structures Congress and Exposition. 2004 Dec 1;109.
• Gavin HP, David Haang AM. Testilng of high-force ER dampers. Structures Congress 2000: Advanced Technology in Structural Engineering. 2004 Dec 1;103.
• Alhan C, Gavin H. Parametric analysis of passive damping in base isolation. Proceedings of the 2004 Structures Congress - Building on the Past: Securing the Future. 2004 Aug 16;1375–82.
• Narasimhan S, Nagarajaiah S, Johnson EA, Gavin HP. Smart base isolated building benchmark problem. Proceedings of the 2004 Structures Congress - Building on the Past: Securing the Future. 2004 Aug 16;1383–90.
• Shiraishi T, Morishita S, Gavin HP. Estimation of equivalent permeability in magnetorheological fluid considering cluster formation of particles. Journal of Applied Mechanics, Transactions ASME. 2004 Mar 1;71(2):201–7.
• Tang D, Gavin HP, Dowell EH. Study of airfoil gust response alleviation using an electro-magnetic dry friction damper. Part 2: Experiment. Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2004 Jan 22;269(3–5):875–97.
• Tang D, Gavin HP, Dowell EH. Study of airfoil gust response alleviation using an electro-magnetic dry friction damper. Part 1: Theory. Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2004 Jan 22;269(3–5):853–74.
• Gavin HP, Zaicenco A. Reliability of semi-active control devices to seismic impact. In: Chu HW, Aguilar J, Rolland J, Lachowicz S, editors. ISAS/CITSA 2004: International Conference on Cybernetics and Information Technologies, Systems and Applications and 10th International Conference on Information Systems Analysis and Synthesis, Vol 4, Proceedings. INT INST INFORMATICS & SYSTEMICS; 2004. p. 168–73.
• Alhan C, Gavin H. A parametric study of linear and non-linear passively damped seismic isolation systems for buildings. Engineering Structures. 2004 Jan 1;26(4):485–97.
• Tang D, Gavin HP, Dowell EH. Gust alleviation using an electro-magnetic dry friction damper. 44th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference. 2003 Dec 1;
• Gavin H, Alhan C, Oka N. Fault tolerance of semiactive seismic isolation. Journal of Structural Engineering. 2003 Dec 1;129(7):922–32.
• Gavin H, Thurston J, Minowa C, Fujitani H. Effects of damper force ranges and ground motion pulse periods on the performance of semi-active isolation systems. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP. 2003 Nov 24;454:79–85.
• Gavin H, Alhan C, Oka N. Fault tolerance of semiactive seismic isolation. Journal of Structural Engineering. 2003;129(7):922–32.
• Tang D, Gavin HP, Dowell EH. Theoretical/experimental study of gust alleviation using an electro-magnetic dry friction damper. Collection of Technical Papers - AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference. 2003 Jan 1;2:1092–108.
• Gavin H, Alhan C. Control of torsionally asymmetric structures. Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 2002 Jan 1;3:2475–80.
• Kabala ZJ, El-Sayegh HK, Gavin HP. Sensitivity analysis of a no-crossflow model for the transient flowmeter test. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. 2002 Jan 1;16(6):399–424.
• Nichols JM, Virgin LN, Gavin HP. Damping estimates from experimental non-linear time-series. Journal of Sound and Vibration. 2001 Oct 4;246(5):815–27.
• Gavin HP. Annular Poiseuille flow of electrorheological and magnetorheological materials. Journal of Rheology. 2001 Jul 1;45(4):983–94.
• Gavin HP, Compucot C. Multi-duct electrorheological dampers. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 2001 Jan 1;4330:191–200.
• Gavin H, Dobossy M. Optimal design of an MR device. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 2001 Jan 1;4330:273–80.
• Gavin HP. Multi-duct ER dampers. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. 2001 Jan 1;12(5):353–66.
• Gavin HP. Control of seismically excited vibration using electrorheological materials and Lyapunov methods. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology. 2001 Jan 1;9(1):27–36.
• Virgin LN, Aldemir U, Gavin HP, Nichols JM, Plaut RH. An investigation of a rocking-sliding block. Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference. 2001 Jan 1;6 B:1279–83.
• Gavin H. Implementation and modeling of a semi-active control system. Proceedings of Sessions of Engineering Mechanics 2000 - Condition Monitoring of Materials and Structures. 2000 Dec 1;302:202–17.
• Gavin Henri P, Reilly Kathryn J. Submerged funicular arches. Journal of Structural Engineering. 2000;126(5):627–9.
• Al khudhairy DHA, Leemhuis C, Thomson JR, Gavin H, Gasca Tucker D, Refstrup Sorensen H, et al. Innovative technologies for scientific wetland management, conservation and restoration. IAHS-AISH Publication. 2000;(267):491–4.
• Gavin HP, Doke NS. Variable property devices for structural control. Structures Congress - Proceedings. 1999 Dec 1;866–9.
• Doke NS, Gavin HP. Non-proportional damping and semi-active control. Proceedings of the International Modal Analysis Conference - IMAC. 1999 Jan 1;1:431–6.
• Gavin HP, Doke NS. Resonance suppression through variable stiffness and damping mechanisms. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 1999 Jan 1;3671:43–53.
• Gavin HP. Lyapunov-based control of a base-excited structure. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 1998 Dec 1;3325:12–22.
• Gavin HP, Hoang D. Construction of multi-duct electrorheological dampers. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 1998 Dec 1;3327:214–25.
• Gavin HP. Design method for high-force electrorheological dampers. Smart Materials and Structures. 1998 Oct 1;7(5):664–73.
• Gavin HP, Morales R, Reilly K. Drift-free integrators. Review of Scientific Instruments. 1998 Jan 1;69(5):2171–5.
• Gavin HP. The effect of particle concentration inhomogeneities on the steady flow of electro- and magneto-rheological materials. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics. 1997 Jan 1;71(3):165–82.
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD, Filisko FE. Electrorheological dampers, Part II: Testing and modeling. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Paper). 1996 Dec 1;
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD, Filisko FE. Electrorheological dampers, Part I: Analysis and design. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Paper). 1996 Dec 1;
• Gavin HP. Bicycle-wheel spoke patterns and spoke fatigue. Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 1996 Jan 1;122(8):736–42.
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD, Filisko FE. Electrorheological dampers, part i: Analysis and design. Journal of Applied Mechanics, Transactions ASME. 1996 Jan 1;63(3):669–75.
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD, Filisko FE. Electrorheological dampers, part ii: Testing and modeling. Journal of Applied Mechanics, Transactions ASME. 1996 Jan 1;63(3):676–82.
• McClamroch NH, Gavin HP. Electrorheological dampers and semi-active structural control. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 1995 Dec 1;4:3528–33.
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD. Electrorheological devices with annular electrodes. Proceedings of Engineering Mechanics. 1995 Jan 1;2:1231–4.
• McClamroch NH, Gavin HP. Closed loop structural control using electroheological dampers. Proceedings of the American Control Conference. 1995 Jan 1;6:4173–7.
• McClamroch NH, Ortiz DS, Gavin HP, Hanson RD. Electrorheological dampers and semi-active structural control. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. 1994 Dec 1;1:97–102.
• Gavin HP, Hanson RD. Characterization of an ER active member. Structures Congress XII. 1994 Jan 1;863–8.