Collaborative Research: Enhancing the Understanding of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thermostamping Woven Composites to Develop a Comprehensive Design Tool

该合作研究项目的目标是设计测试设备，以检查热冲压过程中的纱线滑移，制定材料本构和界面模型，以在考虑微观成分的同时捕捉宏观行为；提出与该材料（编织结构和基体成分）的可成形性相关的失效标准。总体目标是创建设计规则，以最好地利用材料的潜力。这些具有挑战性和根本性的问题将在西北大学、马萨诸塞大学洛厄尔分校、工业界和国际研究人员的合作下解决。这项研究的广泛影响是多方面的。由于织物增强复合材料具有出色的结构（车身、底板、卡车底盘）和能量管理（用于碰撞情况）特性，因此对减少排放和燃料消耗的环保关注为将其引入大批量消费产品创造了巨大的机会。热冲压技术已经证明了其在大规模生产应用中降低制造成本的潜力。PI将在美国、欧洲和亚洲的研究人员之间协调一个关于材料测试、热冲压测试和建模方法的国际基准计划。

This objective of this collaborative research project will be to design test apparatus to examine yarn slippage during thermostamping, to formulate material constitutive and interface models to capture macroscale behavior while considering the microscopic constituents; to propose failure criteria linking to the formability of this material (woven architecture and matrix constituents). The overall objective is to create design rules to best utilize the material potential. These challenging and fundamental issues will be addressed in collaboration between Northwestern, U Mass-Lowell, industry, and international researchers. The broader impacts of this research are numerous. The environmental concern for reduced emissions and fuel consumption has created enormous opportunities for introducing woven-fabric reinforced composites into high-volume consumer products as they possess outstanding structural (car bodies, floor pans, truck beds) and energy-management (for crash situations) properties. Thermostamping has demonstrated its potential as the means to reduce manufacturing costs for mass-production applications. The PI will coordinate an international benchmarking program on material tests, thermostamping tests and modeling methods among researchers in the U.S., Europe and Asia.