U.S.-Egypt Cooperative Research: Nano-Reinforcement Effects on Damping Properties of Composite Structures Under Thermal and Cryogenic Environments

本奖项旨在支持阿拉巴马州塔斯卡卢萨阿拉巴马大学化学工程系的Mohamed Seif博士和埃及扎加齐格扎加齐格大学的Osama Khashaba博士的合作研究。他们计划进行研究，通过在复合材料中引入纳米增强（颗粒或纤维）来探索和改善复合材料结构的阻尼性能。他们将使用傅里叶反变换和实验数据的数值积分来建立一个能够预测所开发的复合材料随时间变化特性的模型。他们还将使用实验的统计设计进行参数调查，以将设计变量与所调查的复合材料的属性联系起来。智力价值：这是一个新颖的研究课题，具有重要意义，但很少被研究。该项目将对先进复合材料结构的发展做出突出贡献。这将有助于提高复合材料结构的阻尼性能，从而降低噪声和振动，了解填充和未填充复合材料在大范围温度和不同加载频率下的粘弹性行为。先进复合材料由于其高强度-重量比和刚度-重量比而广泛应用于重量敏感应用。这种材料所提供的重量和燃料节省使它们不仅对军事，而且对航空航天和汽车工业具有很高的吸引力。更广泛的影响：如果成功，该项目将影响多个行业，包括飞机制造商和节能运输车辆。培训机械工程师了解复合材料结构并将纳米技术作为一种工具，将为研究开辟许多途径。该项目为纤维增强环氧复合材料在低温下的阻尼性能提供了基础数据。这些数据对纤维增强环氧复合材料在低温工程中的广泛应用具有重要意义。预期有关这一重要工业问题的科学成果将得到广泛传播。该项目涉及来自美国和埃及的教师和研究生。这种协作努力可以作为一个榜样，为未来的产品开发创建一个产学研联盟。该项目得到了美国-埃及联合基金项目的支持，该项目向两国的科学家和工程师提供赠款，以开展这些合作活动。

0612066 SeifDescription: This award is to support a cooperative research by Dr. Mohamed Seif, Alabama A&M University Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Dr. Osama Khashaba, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt. They plan to conduct research to explore and improve the damping properties of composite structures through the introduction of nano reinforcement (particles or fibers) to the composite. They will use inverse Fourier transformation and numerical integration on experimental data to have a model capable of predicting time dependent properties of the developed composites. They will also conduct a parametric investigation using the statistical design of experiments to relate the design variables to the properties of the investigated composite. Intellectual Merit: This is a novel research topic that has significant importance but has rarely been studied. The project could lead to outstanding contribution to the development of advanced composite structures. It will contribute to enhancing the damping properties of composite structures and that will lead to noise and vibration reduction, understanding viscoelastic behavior of filled and unfilled composites under a wide range of temperatures, and under different loading frequencies. Advanced composite materials are widely used in weight sensitive applications due to their high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios. The weight and fuel savings offered by such materials make them highly attractive not only to the military, but also to the aerospace and automotive industries. Broader Impact: If successful, the project will impact several industries including the aircraft manufacturers, and fuel-efficient transport vehicles. Training mechanical engineers to understand composite structures and use nanotechnology as a tool will open up many avenues for research. The project provides fundamental data on the damping behavior of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites at cryogenic temperature. These data are very important to fiber-reinforced epoxy composites that are widely used in cryogenic engineering. Broad dissemination of scientific results on this important industrial issue is expected. The project involves faculty, graduate students from US and Egypt. This collaborative effort can work as a role model to create an industry-university alliance for future product development. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.