Collaborative Research: Damage Tolerant 3-D Periodic Interpenetrating Phase Composites with Enhanced Mechanical Performance - Design, Fabrication, Analysis and Testing

该奖项的研究目标是通过设计、制造、分析和实验相结合的综合方法，研究具有增强机械性能(包括刚性、强度、抗冲击性、韧性、能量耗散和损伤容忍度)的高性能碳-聚合物周期性互穿相复合材料(IPC)。基于三周期极小曲面和三维微桁架的几何结构将被用来优化设计所提出的IPC的微结构，并将采用三维直写打印技术来制造它们。将开发分析和计算微观力学模型来模拟IPC，并将进行各种测试来表征所制造的IPC并验证所提出的模型。预计这项拟议研究的结果将为工程和定制IPC提供指导方针，以实现最佳性能。拟议研究的成功完成将导致实现新的和改进的IPC机械性能所需的新的结构-性质-功能关系，从而显著改善我们目前对IPC的理解，提高IPC的机械性能。拟议中的项目将展示按设计提供材料的现代概念。它将为未来复合材料技术提供一个范例。在这个项目中产生的研究方法、工具和结果将被记录下来，并用于改进本科生和研究生课程，这将使工程学学生能够接触到尖端研究设施并获得新知识。综合教育计划将极大地提高学生的学习体验，挑战他们的求知欲，并激励他们追求研究和教育事业。新的调查结果将在互联网上公布，并通过外展活动提供给K-12年级的学生。

The research objective of this award is to study high-performance carbon-polymer periodic interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) with enhanced mechanical properties (including stiffness, strength, impact resistance, toughness, energy dissipation, and damage tolerance) through an integrated approach combining design, fabrication, analysis and experiment. Geometries based on triply periodic minimal surfaces and 3-D microtrusses will be used to optimally design microstructures of the proposed IPCs, and 3-D direct-write printing technologies will be employed to fabricate them. Analytical and computational micromechanics models will be developed to simulate the IPCs, and various tests will be conducted to characterize the fabricated IPCs and to validate the proposed models. It is anticipated that the findings of this proposed research will provide guidelines for engineering and tailoring IPCs to achieve optimized properties. The successful completion of the proposed research will lead to new structure-property-function relationships needed for achieving new and improved mechanical properties of IPCs, thereby significantly improving our current understanding of IPCs with enhanced mechanical performance. The proposed project will provide a demonstration of the modern concept of materials-by-design. It will offer an example of futuristic composite material technology. The research methodology, tools, and results generated in this project will be documented and used to improve both undergraduate and graduate curricula, which will enable engineering students to access cutting-edge research facilities and acquire new knowledge. The integrated educational plan will greatly enhance the students' learning experience, challenge their intellectual curiosity and motivate them to pursue careers in research and education. New findings will be made available on the Internet and to K-12 students through outreach activities.