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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/M002500/1
Title Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Next generation of lightweight composites - how far can we go?
Status Completed
Energy Categories Renewable Energy Sources(Wind Energy) 5%;
Energy Efficiency(Transport) 10%;
Not Energy Related 85%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials) 50%;
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 50%;
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 31 December 2014
End Date 30 December 2019
Duration 60 months
Total Grant Value £818,239
Industrial Sectors Materials sciences
Region
Programme NC : Engineering
 
Investigators Principal Investigator
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract Breakthroughs in the development of new materials have historically been achieved largely by trial and error. My vision is that there is a new generation of advanced hierarchical materials that has never been addressed and can be achieved by design. This new generation draws inspiration both from recent experimental observations in existing materials and from biomimetics, and is made possible by recent advances in modelling and manufacturing. The main challenges faced by today's composites industry include (i) damage tolerance, (ii) manufacturability and (iii) sustainability. I argue that (i) hierarchical micro-structural designs for composites will be more damage tolerant and achieve over 100% increase in fracture toughness, (ii) that hierarchical discrete carbon-fibre systems will simultaneously address manufacturing and performance needs of the automotive industry, and (iii) that recycled carbon fibres will find a high-value market as semi-structural parts by also exploiting hierarchical architectures. My proposal is to define these hierarchical micro-structures by design and to then develop suitable manufacturing methods to realise them in practice
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Added to Database 10/04/14