DEsign MEthodology for fibre steered Composite structures (DEMEC)

在车辆中使用轻量化解决方案是英国/欧盟2050年零排放目标的关键。提高英国生产具有先进性能特点和较低制造成本的轻型结构的能力，满足全球市场的需求，为就业和繁荣提供了巨大的机会。目前，在聚合物基体中加入纤维制成的复合材料是运输应用中最先进的解决方案，因为它们具有高强度、高刚性和低比重的特殊组合。目前，它们的制造仅限于标准的不灵活的解决方案——主要是直纤维层——而且价格昂贵。这些阻碍了复合材料应用的扩展，限制了整体经济和可持续发展的机会。DEMEC提出了设计/制造复合材料结构的范式转变。该项目基于快速剪切（RTS）流程。DEMEC将由RTS的创始人iCOMAT领导，同时将由航空航天一级（Solvay）提供咨询服务。RTS是世界上第一个自动化复合材料制造工艺，可以沿着弯曲路径（纤维转向）无缺陷地沉积宽预浸渍带，从而制造出具有成本效益的超轻质先进复合材料结构，同时对环境的影响最小。纤维导向通过将纤维与主要负载路径和部件几何形状对齐，提供量身定制的高效设计。这可以大大提高结构的完整性，使用更少的层数，最大限度地减少材料的使用，从而减少重量、生产成本和环境足迹。此外，纤维导向可以优化复合材料结构的成型过程，因为纤维可以在二维（平面）预制件中预先导向，从而在3D部件中实现所需的纤维取向，从而确保无缺陷的过程。因此，平铺（纤维导向）和成形为复杂形状的结构提供了一条有吸引力的制造路线。DEMEC将开发一个完整的设计优化工作流程，用于使用平面和成型工艺制造复杂形状的结构。适当的结构分析和过程模拟将被开发/集成，提供一个完全自动化的框架，将大大扩展复合结构的设计空间。将设计/制造一个具有代表性的航空航天弯曲梁（件）来验证所开发的工作流程。DEMEC将为RTS成为复合材料制造领域的新技术铺平道路，使英国处于先进复合材料的主导地位。

Utilisation of lightweight solutions in vehicles is key to UK's/EU's 2050 Net Zero. Enhancing the UK's capability to produce lightweight structures with advanced performance characteristics and lower manufacturing cost, addressing the needs of the global market, presents an enormous opportunity for jobs and prosperity. Currently, composites made of fibres incorporated in a polymeric matrix are the most advanced solution for transport applications due to their exceptional combination of high strength and rigidity with a low specific weight. Currently, their manufacture is limited to standard inflexible solutions -- mostly layers of straight fibres -- and expensive. These hinder the expansion of composite materials applications and limit the overall economic and sustainability opportunity.DEMEC puts forward a paradigm shift in designing/manufacturing composite-structures. The project is based on the Rapid-Tow-Shearing (RTS) process. DEMEC will be led by iCOMAT who are the originator of RTS, whilst will be supported by an aerospace Tier1 (Solvay) acting on an advisory-role.RTS is the world's first automated composites manufacturing process that can deposit wide pre-impregnated tapes along curved paths (fibre-steering) without defects enabling the manufacture of cost-effective ultra-lightweight advanced composite structures with minimum environmental footprint.Fibre-steering offers tailored/efficient designs by aligning fibres with the primary load-paths and the component-geometry. This can significantly improve structural-integrity using considerably fewer layers minimising material usage and thus weight, production costs and environmental footprint. In addition, fibre-steering can optimise the forming process of composite structures as fibres can be pre-steered in the 2D (flat) preform to achieve the required fibre orientation in the 3D part ensuring a defect-free process. Therefore, lay flat (fibre-steering) and form offers an attractive manufacturing-route for complex-shaped structures.DEMEC will address the development of a complete design optimisation workflow for the manufacture of complex-shaped structures using the lay flat and form process. Appropriate structural analysis and process simulation will be developed/integrated offering a fully automated framework that will drastically expand the design space of composite-structures. A representative aerospace-curved-beam (article) will be designed/manufactured to validate the developed workflow.DEMEC will pave the way for RTS to become the new state-of-the-art in composites manufacture placing the UK at the driver's seat of advanced composites.