About

Robert Campbell is an Associate Research Professor affiliated with the Applied Research Laboratory, the Center for Acoustics and Vibration, and the Mechanical Engineering department at Penn State University. His contact information includes the email rlc138@psu.edu and the phone number 814-865-8959. He is part of Penn State's Graduate Program in Acoustics, which is recognized as a leading resource for graduate education in acoustics in the United States. The program offers degrees such as Master of Engineering in Acoustics, Master of Science in Acoustics, and Doctor of Philosophy in Acoustics, and was founded in 1965. The interdisciplinary nature of the program emphasizes research and education in acoustics, contributing significantly to the field through its academic and research activities.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Organic chemistry
• Physics
• Biochemistry
• Crystallography
• Petrology
• Biophysics
• Geology
• Thermodynamics

Selected publications

• USP <797> and Anesthesia: Immediate Use Medication Preparation – What You Need to Know

  ASA Monitor · 2025-11-20

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• A model for co-creating accessible rehabilitation technology

  Physiotherapy · 2024-06-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Followability, Necessity, and Excuse: Interpreting Kant’s Penal Theory

  Kantian Review · 2024-04-04 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Philosophers traditionally interpret Kant as a retributivist, but modern interpreters, with reference to Kant’s theory of justice and problematic passages, instead propose penal theories that mix retributive and deterrent features. Although these mixed penal theories are substantively compelling and capture the Kantian spirit, their dual aspects lead to a justificatory conflict that generates an apparent dilemma. To resolve this dilemma and clear the ground for these mixed theories, I will outline and reinterpret Kant’s penal theory by situating it in his broader moral and political philosophy. This move grounds the followability requirement, which is necessary to resolve the dilemma.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Singularity Based Method for Small Perturbation Unsteady Aerodynamics Using Higher Fidelity Steady State Pressure Profiles

  2023-10-29 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract A low-cost, singularity-based method that builds upon the classic potential flow solution procedures is presented in this paper. The classic potential flow solution method distributes elementary solutions to the Laplace’s equation such as sources, vortices or doublets, on the aerodynamic surface. The strengths of those singularities are calculated to satisfy the non-penetration boundary condition and the flow smoothness at the trailing edge. The potential flow predictions are improved to include some compressibility and viscous effects by superposing additional singularities, which strengths are computed to match pressure profiles obtained from a higher resolution conmputational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. Four variants of the procedure are presented and discussed. Classic potential solution methods can be based on the camber-line (e.g. Lumped Vortex Method in 2D for airfoil) or on the actual airfoil (respectively wing) surface (e.g. source-double panel method). Likewise, the four variants differ by the types of singularities used and/or the aerodynamic surface where the boundary condition is applied: Method 1 optimizes the camber-line shape so that when distributing discrete vortices along that curve, the correct pressure jump across it is obtained. Method 2 duplicates and offsets the geometric camber-line into an “upper” and a “lower” camber curves. Singularities are then distributed on those curves to match the pressure distribution across the airfoil upper and lower surfaces. Method 3 overloads the airfoil surface panels with multiple singularities to meet the pressure requirements. Finally, Method 4 combines continous and discrete singularities to achieve that goal. The methods are surveyed upon three airfoils: NACA006 (thin, symmetric airfoil), NACA4412 (thin, cambered airfoil) and a two-element airfoil, S207. The methods are compared in terms of accuracy in predicting pressure coefficient, aerodynamic loads and applicability for future unsteady simulations. Based on this steady-state survey, Method 4 is the most accurate and stable, with the appropriate choice of singularities. One key element for small perturbation analysis is to capture accurately the reference position, particularly the mean wake on which the vortices are shed, which method 4 is found to be capable of predicting.

  PublisherDOI

• Design Optimization of a Hybrid Spur Gear Including Tooth Bending Effects

  Journal of the American Helicopter Society · 2022-06-21 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  A multiobjective design optimization technique for hybrid gears with sinusoidally shaped interlocks has been developed and applied to a hybrid spur gear. The hybrid gear concept consists of a metallic outer ring to support high tooth contact stress bonded to a composite inner web for weight reduction. Three design objectives were minimized for various geometric parameters controlling the composite–steel interface. Borg MOEA, a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, was used to generate Pareto-optimal solutions for this design problem. Candidate designs were chosen from the Pareto-optimal set for more detailed analysis. From the results, we infer that the spur hybrid gear studied herein has the potential to decrease gear weight by approximately 27–45%, at the expense of a 22–34% increase in tooth pitch-point deflection, and that the optimal interface has between 15–20 cycles of the sinusoid with an amplitude of 0.25–0.35 mm.

  PublisherDOI

• Vibrations of a High-Aspect-Ratio, Multi-Element Wing

  AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum · 2022-01-03 · 1 citations

  article

  View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-2537.vid A full-scale finite element model of a high aspect ratio, back swept, slotted-natural-laminar-flow wing is used to: 1) study the uncoupled and coupled modes of the two elements of the wing; 2) investigate the effects of connection stiffness and number of connections on the coupled modes. The two elements are attached via constraint equations and springs or connectors, using a component mode synthesis approach. The wing model includes the aerodynamic skins as well as internal structural elements. The analysis shows that increasing the stiffness of the springs can couple the two wings such that the low order modes resemble those of a conventional wing. Out-of-plane modes are the most compliant modes with coupling. Torsional modes become mixed bending/torsional modes, with the aft element undergoing most of the deformation. In-plane bending modes appear to evolve to mixed in-plane /out-of-plane/ torsion modes with more connectors or higher stiffness.

  PublisherDOI

• Why Chomskyan Linguistics Is Antipsychological

  2022-05-10 · 1 citations

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The well-attested friction between linguistics and psychology is not a superficial phenomenon. No conception of language has had more influence on psychology and Cognitive Science than the linguistics of Noam Chomsky. Yet Chomskyan linguistics is radically incompatible with viable accounts of knowledge, and of the development or evolution of knowledge. This incompatibility is strongly manifested in two characteristic Chomskyan doctrines: linguistic competence and the autonomy of syntax. The fallacious arguments on which Chomsky relies are analyzed, and their deep implications for Cognitive Science are traced.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Analysis of Large-Scale Hybrid Aerospace Spur Gear Drivetrains

  Journal of the American Helicopter Society · 2022-07-14 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  The hybrid gear concept, which combines a metallic outer rim of gear teeth with a composite web, has shown potential to reduce the weight of small-scale spur gears without negatively affecting vibration performance for low- and medium-speed applications. In this paper, the hybrid gear design and tooth microgeometry optimization technique that had been applied to small-scale spur gears was adapted for application to spur gears of aerospace-relevant scale, speed, and load. A single reduction drivetrain model was developed featuring large-scale hybrid spur gears, which was used to determine optimal tooth microgeometry modifications that minimized peak-to-peak transmission error. Static and dynamic transmission error analyses were then performed using the optimal microgeometries. Results were compared to those predicted for a similarlyoptimized all-steel drivetrain. The application of optimal tooth microgeometries to large-scale hybrid gears led to a more significant decrease in a peak-to-peak transmission error than was observed for the small-scale gears. Similar to results for small-scale hybrid gears, the drivetrains featuring large-scale hybrid gears predicted similar dynamic transmission errors to their all-steel counterparts at low and medium speeds, while significantly different transmission errors were predicted at high speeds.

  PublisherDOI

• Complication with re‐sedation in southern ground hornbills ( <i>Bucorvus leadbeateri</i> ) following partial reversal of two orally administered sedation protocols

  Veterinary Record Case Reports · 2021-12-16

  article

  Abstract The combination of midazolam, medetomidine and azaperone (MMA) was compared with the combination of butorphanol, azaperone and medetomidine (BAM) for the sedation of southern ground hornbills when administered orally in a bait. The BAM combination (30 mg butorphanol, 12 mg azaperone and 12 mg medetomidine per ml of solution) at a dose of 0.14 ml/kg was the only combination that did not result in re‐sedation after reversal. However, induction of sedation was long, and sedation was only deep enough for capture, handling, and minor non‐invasive procedures. The MMA combination and higher doses of the BAM combination resulted in quicker inductions although individuals showed mild to severe signs of re‐sedation, starting at 4 hours after reversal and continuing for as long as 17 hours after reversal. Care should therefore be taken when administering these combinations orally to southern ground hornbills as it appears that absorption, metabolism and excretion are unpredictable in this species.

  PublisherDOI

• Something That Used to Be Objectivism: Barbara Branden’s Psycho-Epistemology

  The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies · 2020-10-28 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Think as If Your Life Depends on It puts Barbara Branden’s lectures on the Principles of Efficient Thinking in print at last, along with three later lectures. In Roger Bissell’s excellent transcription, the ten lectures introduce readers to psycho-epistemology (the psychology of methods of thinking), the difference between directed and undirected thinking, the role of the subconscious in problem-solving, common faults in thinking, and motivational issues that interfere with thinking. Her contributions were effectively erased from Objectivism after the Nathaniel Branden Institute closed; the original lectures were the most significant part of the Objectivist corpus that remained to be recovered.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• George Davey Smith

  126 shared

• Gregory A. Petsko

  68 shared

• Michael N. Margolies

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  65 shared

• Roland K. Strong

  Fred Hutch Cancer Center

  65 shared

• S. Sheriff

  Princeton University

  64 shared

• Peter L. Davies

  Queen's University

  56 shared

• TH Lam

  University of Hong Kong

  46 shared

• Peter Hall

  Simon Fraser University

  42 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Chemistry

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  1988

• B.Sc., Biochemistry

  Queen's University

  1982