Ernest Edwin Sechler (1905-1979) was an aerospace engineer and scientist who specialized in thin-shell structures. He earned his doctorate in 1934 at Caltech as one of the early students of Theodore von Kármán with a dissertation on the mechanics of thin-plate compression.

Hans W. Liepmann Hans Wolfgang Liepmann (July 3, 1914 – June 24, 2009) was an American fluid dynamicist, aerospace scientist and emeritus Theodore von Kármán Professor of Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology."Hans Liepmann" at the GALCIT ...

(1984
Ernest Edwin Sechler
in ''Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering'', Vol. 2, 258-261, link from

National Academies Press The US National Academies Press (NAP) was created to publish the reports issued by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Research C ...

Sechler contributed to the transition from wood to metal for construction of

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...

s. :A graduate student named Ernest E. Sechler (now a professor of aeronautics at Caltech) was reviewing research in the strength of thin metal plates which had been carried out by the National Bureau of Standards. Sechler reported that the engineers didn’t think that sheet metal could be used to make structural elements in an airplane because the metal would give way...Sechler’s report intrigued me. Von Kármán showed that by stiffening with re-enforcing strips the "effective width" of metal sheets could be increased to withstand the load aloft. In 1934 Sechler wrote his thesis, ''The ultimate compressive strength of thin sheet metal panels'', under von Karman's supervision. "Development of light, fail-safe structure became the main theme of his professional life." His thin-wall structures included missiles, booster rockets, and a movable

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

for

Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...

. This work was performed as consultant to NASA and industry. Sechler wrote two of the standard references on shell structures: In 1942 he and

Louis Dunn Louis Gerhardus Dunn (1908-1979) was a South African-born engineer who played a key role in the development of early American missiles and launch vehicles. Caltech Dunn received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in aeronautical engineerin ...

wrote ''Airplane Structural Analysis and Design''. A decade later he contributed ''Elasticity in Engineering''. In review,

William Fuller Brown Jr. William Fuller Brown Jr. (21 October 1904 – 1983) was an American physicist who developed the theory of micromagnetics, a continuum theory of ferromagnetism that has had numerous applications in physics and engineering. He published three books: ...

said that "Some of the basic topics are discussed least clearly." Another reviewer noted that "many practical examples have been included to illustrate the various methods of structural analysis."E.W. Hammer

Journal of the Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memoria ...

255(3):252 Sechler was responsible for the

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory. He had "an unbelievable intuitive understanding of the potential of an incoming student." Sechler was a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a member of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, and of the

California Academy of Science The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1979, the year of his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sechler, Ernest Edwin American aerospace engineers California Institute of Technology alumni People from Pueblo, Colorado 1905 births 1979 deaths 20th-century American engineers