Henry A. Scarton Associate Professor Director - Laboratory for Noise and Vibration Control Research 4008 Jonsson Engineering Center Tel: (518) 276-6728; Fax: (518) 276-2623; E-mail: scarton@rpi.edu [ MANE || Faculty ]

Henry Scarton is a Mechanical Engineer with a B.S. (1965) from Bucknell University and M.S. (1966) and a Ph.D. (1970) from Carnegie-Mellon University. After one and one-half years as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow jointly at the Departments of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics and the Engineering Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, England, he joined the faculty at Rensselaer in 1971; is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics, co-founder of the ASME Noise Control & Acoustics Division and is past Secretary of the National Nominating Committee. He is the recipient of the 1992 Rensselaer Center for Manufacturing Productivity and Technology Transfer Faculty Partner Award and the 1991 ASME Dedicated Service Award.

Research Interests and Activities

Major interests: Acoustics, Vibrations, Noise Control, Inventing, Sensors, and Applied Mechanics. Dr. Scarton is an inventor with more than twelve patents mostly in the areas of noise control and vibration. He has recently received a patent for synthetic ivory for piano keycovers (called RPIvory ^TM)and a dynamic hardness tester. He has developed a new hardness scale called the Scarton Dynamic Hardness (SDH). His development of analysis methods for acoustic fluid-structural interaction has resulted in new discoveries of modal coincidence in viscous wave propagation within fluid-filled lines. Current interests include a six-degree-of-freedom sensor (patent pending) and sensors used in torsional vibration and acoustic emission, experimental verification of modal coincidence in fluid lines, development of sensors for determining the integrety of dental implants, piano hammer tonal regulation, an ultrasonic inspection system for large cylindrical aluminum ingot, determination of the dynamic hardness of sports equipment, and dynamic simulation of a base ball on a wooden bat and a soft ball on an aluminum bat. He has more than seventy papers.

Selected Publications and Patents

"Simulation of Acoustic Noise Generated by an Airbreathg, Beam-Powered Launch Vehicle," W.C. Kennedy, P. Van Laak, H.A. Scarton and LN Myrabo, AIAA/SAE/ASME/ASEE 24th Joint Propulsion Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Paper No. AIAA-88-2971, p. 14, July 11-13 (1988).

"The Analysis of Thermoelectric Signals in Metallic Sliding," J.-H. Shen, C.M. Ettles and H.A. Scarton, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Tribology, 111, 114-120, January (1989).

"The Relationship Between Standing Waves, Pressure Pulse Propagation, and Critical Flow Rate in Two-Phase Mixtures," A.E. Ruggles, R.T. Lahey, Jr., D.A. Drew & H.A. Scarton, Trans. ASME, J. Heat Trans., III, 467-473 (1989).

"Dispersion of Higher Order Circumferential Thermoelastic Waves in an Annular Elastic Cylinder," P.N. Liang and H.A. Scarton, International Congress on Recent Developments in Air- and Structure-Borne Sound & Vibration, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, 835-844, March 6-8 (1990).

"Acoustic Noise Generated by a Laser-Boosted, Transatmospheric Spacecraft," W.C. Kennedy, P. Van Laak, H.A. Scarton and L.N. Myrabo (Accepted for publication) Journal of Propulsion & Power (1990).

"Some Parameters Affecting Tactile Friction," O.S. Dinç, C.M. Ettles, S.J. Calabrese and H.A. Scarton, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Tribology, Vol. 113, pp. 512-517 (1991).

"Solution of the End Problem of a Liquid -Filled Cylindrical Acoustic Waveguide Using a Biorthogonality Principle," W.F. Albers and H.A. Scarton, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Vol. 114, pp. 425-431 (1992).

"Noninvasive Implant Testing," J.B. Brunski, H.A. Scarton, U.S. Patent Pending (March 6, 1992).

"The Measurement of Surface Temperature in Dry or Lubricated Sliding," O.S. Dinç C.M. Ettles, S.J. Calabrese and H.A. Scarton, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Tribology, Vol. 115, No. 1, pp. 78-82 (1993).

"Piano Key Covers Formed of Ivory Substitute and Pianos Having Same," S.J. Calabrese, H.A. Scarton, S.F. Murray, C.M. Ettles, W.C. Kennedy, S. Dinç, B. Jlidi and W. Strang, U.S. Patent #5,183,955, February 2, 1993.

"A Noninvasive Method for Assessing Bone-Dental Implant Interfaces: Detection of Interfacial Cortical Vs. Trabecular Bone In Vitro," J.P. Carollo, J.J. Elias, J.B. Brunski and H.A. Scarton, The 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Biomaterials, April 28 - May 2, 1993, Birmingham, Alabama.

"Ultrasonic In Situ Monitoring of Sintering in an Alumina Ceramic," P. Komarenko, R.W. Messler, Jr. and H.A. Scarton, International Journal of Powder Metallurgy, January (1994).

"Noninvasive Method for Measuring the Intregrity of Implant-Tissue Interfaces," J.J. Elias, J.S. Carollo, J.B. Brunski and H.A. Scarton, International Journal of Powder Mettalurgy, January (1994).

"Experimental Study of the Mechanical Behavior of Superconducting Cells," H. Nigam, H.A. Scarton, P. Das, M. Kaveh, F.S. Murray and J.R. Mitchell, Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vol. 13, pp. 1691-1698 (1994).

"Ultrasonic Inspection of the Segregation Layer in Continuouos Cast Cylindrical Aluminum Ingots," Y.-S. Lee, R.M. Cooper, H.A. Scarton, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Nondestructive Evaluation, Division Topical Conference, San Antonio, Texas (March 1994).

"A Quantitative Method for Evaluation of the State of Piano Hammer Felt Tonal Regulation," H.A. Scarton, W.C. Kennedy, J.F. Yungman, P.N.-J. Liang, U.S. Patent #07/957,883 (to be issued September 1994).