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

这一合作研究项目的目标将是设计测试设备，以检查热烫印过程中的纱线滑移，制定材料本构模型和界面模型，以捕捉宏观行为，同时考虑微观成分；提出与这种材料(机织结构和基质成分)成形性相关的失效标准。总体目标是制定设计规则，以最大限度地利用材料潜力。这些具有挑战性和根本性的问题将在西北大学、马萨诸塞州洛厄尔大学、工业界和国际研究人员之间的合作中得到解决。这项研究的更广泛影响是多方面的。对减少排放和燃料消耗的环境关注为将机织增强复合材料引入大批量消费产品创造了巨大的机会，因为它们具有出色的结构(车身、地板、卡车床垫)和能源管理(用于碰撞情况)性能。热烫印已显示出其作为降低批量生产应用的制造成本的手段的潜力。PI将协调美国、欧洲和亚洲的研究人员在材料测试、热冲压测试和建模方法方面的国际基准计划。

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.