GOALI: Fundamental Understanding and Suppression of Microcracking in Three Dimensional Woven Composites During Curing

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This Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) project will provide fundamental understanding of how local stress concentrations and formation of damage during curing are related to the weave architecture and fabrication parameters of three-dimensional woven composites. Comprehensive numerical modeling tools to predict microcracking during matrix cure and under service conditions will be developed and validated by experiments. Experimental studies will be performed on the specimens specifically fabricated in industrial setting to support the modeling effort and gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of resin pocket cracking. They will include microstructure characterization using optical and SEM microscopy, microcomputed tomography, traditional mechanical testing, residual stress determination by material removal, and multiaxial stress tests on neat resin. Guidelines for safe design of three-dimensional woven composites will be proposed. Advances in understanding and modeling of microcracking in 3D woven composites during resin curing will lead to improvements in technology of manufacturing and ?tailoring? of these materials for various applications. Demonstrating that they can be produced free of microcracks with inexpensive resins will greatly expand their utilization in aerospace, automotive, ground transportation, wind energy, and recreational marine industries. The work will be conducted in close collaboration between the University of New Hampshire and Albany Engineered Composites, Inc., and will be disseminated through journal publications, conference presentations and two industrial workshops.