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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%; Not Energy Related 85%; Energy Efficiency(Transport) 10%;
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%
Principal Investigator	Dr ST Pinho No email address given Aeronautics Imperial College London
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	Aerospace; Defence and Marine; Manufacturing
Region	London
Programme	Manufacturing : Manufacturing, NC : Engineering
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Dr ST Pinho , Aeronautics, Imperial College London (100.000%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , Vestas Technology UK Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , University of Sheffield (0.000%) Project Contact , BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , Airbus UK Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , BASF AG, Germany (0.000%) Project Contact , Hexcel Composites Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , Technical Fibre Products Ltd (0.000%) Project Contact , Chomarat France (0.000%) Project Contact , Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., Italy (0.000%) Project Contact , RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB (0.000%) Project Contact , Oxeon AB, Sweden (0.000%) Project Contact , Triple H Composites Limited (0.000%) Project Contact , ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. (0.000%)
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
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	10/04/14