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

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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 planned 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.