Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Advanced Composites in Transportation Vehicles (ACTV)

I/UCRC对运输车辆先进复合材料的研究将从材料开发到制造工艺改进。多功能纳米复合材料、天然纤维复合材料、极端环境材料和非高压釜复合材料将被研究，而多尺度材料建模将捕捉不同长度和时间尺度的机制。将研究复合材料的耐久性、损伤容限和断裂行为。材料-产品系统的综合优化将通过分层分解的设计优化方法进行。损坏诊断和预测旨在实现基于状态的维护，以提高安全性并降低生命周期成本。拟议的I/UCRC有潜力增加先进复合材料结构在航空航天、汽车和海军车辆中的应用，并促进美国工业增长。与目前的金属结构相比，通过中心研究的进步可以减少车辆重量和降低能耗，并且可以想象改变当前复合材料的设计范式。中心的工作目标是为理工科学生提供跨学科和协作培训，在技术会议和档案文献中传播成果，并增加K-12、社区学院和大学生对STEM的了解。

The research of the I/UCRC for Advanced Composites in Transportation Vehicles will span from material development to manufacturing process improvements. Multi-functional nano-composites, natural fiber composites, materials for extreme environments, and out-of-autoclave composites will be investigated while multi-scale material modeling will capture mechanisms at different length and time scales. The durability, damage tolerance, and fracture behavior of composites will be studied. Integrated optimization of material-product systems will be pursued through hierarchically decomposed design optimization methodology. Damage diagnostics and prognostics are intended to enable Condition Based Maintenance for improved safety and reduced life cycle cost. The proposed I/UCRC has the potential to increase the use of advanced composite structures in aerospace, automotive, and naval vehicles and result in U.S. industrial growth. Advances through center research can lead to reduction of vehicle weight and lower energy consumption compared to current metallic structures and could conceivably alter the current design paradigm for composite materials. Center work is targeted to result in the interdisciplinary and collaborative training of science and engineering students, dissemination of results at technical meetings and in the archival literature, and increased exposure of K-12, community college, and university students to STEM.