• 1991-Present,  Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
• 1993,  AFOSR Summer Faculty Researcher at the Phillips Lab, Albuquerque, NM
• 1987-1991,  Affiliate Instructor of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology
• 1976-1983,  Engineer, Structural Analysis Department, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigann

Specialty Areas

Lightweight auto bodies, composites

Research Summary

Dr. Patton's two main research interests are in reducing the weight of vehicle bodies and in polymer composites.  He has given papers to the Society of Automotive Engineers on the weight savings attained by switching from steel to aluminum, and has developed metrics for aiding in the lightweight redesign of automobile bodies.  From 1999 until the present, he has had funded automotive research in this field.

Dr. Patton has also been active in the area of composite research. He is currently investigating the use of composites in cryogenic applications.

Research Activities

Composites.  Dr. Patton has been working on the use of polymer composites in cryogenic storage applications.  He is currently funded to study the use of polymer composites for liquid hydrogen storage.  He is also working on the development of low-cost vapor-grown carbon fibers.  These fibers represent many problems before they can be utilized.  Their advantage is that they are very inexpensive, with costs that are comparable with fiberglass.  Steady progress has been in the characterization of composites using these fibers.

Lightweight Vehicle Bodies.  Dr. Patton has been studying the effects of material substitution on vehicle bodies, with an emphasis on discovering how much weight can really be saved by material substitution, how to measure it and what alternative approaches are possible to saving weight.  He has developed a method for measuring how much weight is saved by material substitution.

Selected Recent Publications

R. D. Patton, C. U. Pittman, Jr., L. Wang, J. R. Hill, A. Day, "Ablation, Mechanical and Thermal Conductivity Properties of Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber/Phenolic Matrix Composites," Composites, Part A, Vol. 33, Issue 2, 2002, pp. 243-251.

Patton, R. D., Pittman, C. U. Jr., L. Wang, J. R. Hill, "Vapor-Grown Carbon Fiber Composites With Epoxy and Poly (Phenylene Sulphide) Matrices," Composites, Part A, Vol. 30, 1999, pp. 1081-1091.

Chung-Chu Teng and Richard D. Patton, "Field Experiments for Buoy/Mooring Dynamics - Experimental Setup and Preliminary Results," Ocean Community Conference '98, Baltimore, MD, Nov. 16-19, 1998.

Patton, R. D., C. U. Pittman, and L. Wang, "Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber Composites With Epoxy and Poly (Phenylene Sulfide) Matrices," Proceedings of the 29th International SAMPE Technical Conference , Vol. 29, Oct 28-Nov. 1, 1997, Orlando Florida, pp 77-84.

C. U. Pittman, Jr., L. Wang, and R. D. Patton, "Vapor Grown Carbon Fiber Composites With Epoxy and Poly (Phenylene Sulfide) Matrices," Extended Abstracts of the 23rd Biennial Conference on Carbon, Vol. II, pp. 298-299, 1997, Penn State University, July 18-23, 1997.

Patton, R. D. and Marks, P. C., "One-Dimensional Finite Elements Based on the Daubechies Family of Wavelets," AIAA Journal , Vol. 34, No. 8, August 1996, pp. 1696-1699.

Patton, R. D., "Ply Thickness Measurement Using Ultrasonic Signal Deconvolution in Composites," 5th Annual ASNT Research Symposium on Engineering Tools for Life-Cycle NDE, March 18-22, 1996.

Patton, R. D. and Marks, P. C., "The Rod Wavelet Finite Element, a New Type of Finite Element," 36th AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conferences and Adaptive Structures Forum, April 10-13, 1995.

The above paper was chosen for the interactive plenary session, which is recognition of excellence.

Patton, R. D. and Marks, P. C., "Application of the Rod Wavelet Finite Element to Dynamic Systems," 36th AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conferences and Adaptive Structures Forum, April 10-13, 1995.

Patton, R. D., and Killen, A., "Discrete Adaptive Filters for Short-Lived Dynamic Systems," Proceedings of the 25th IEEE Southeastern Symposium on System Theory, 323-327, (1993).

Patton, R. D. et. al., "Automated Cloth Using Adaptive Force Feedback Control," Journal of Dynamics Systems, Measurement and Control, Vol. 114, December 1992, pp. 731-733.

Patton, R. D., "Lyapunov Stability and Convergence of On-line Parameter Estimators for Linear Deterministic Systems," Control and Computers, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1990, pp. 1-3.

Geck, P. E. and Patton, R. D., ""A Primer on Front Wheel Drive Engine Mounts," Automotive Engineering, Vol. 92, No. 5, May 1984, pp. 64-67.

Geck, P. E. and Patton, R. D., "Front Wheel Drive Engine Mount Optimization," SAE Paper 840736.