Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Next generation of lightweight composites - how far can we go?

历史上，新材料开发的突破很大程度上是通过试验和错误实现的。我的愿景是，有新一代先进的分层材料，这种材料从未被解决过，可以通过设计实现。这一新一代从现有材料的最新实验观察和生物仿生中获得灵感，并因最近在建模和制造方面的进步而成为可能。当今复合材料工业面临的主要挑战包括(I)损伤容限、(Ii)可制造性和(Iii)可持续性。我认为，(I)复合材料的分层微结构设计将具有更强的损伤容忍度，并实现100%以上的断裂韧性提高；(Ii)分层离散碳纤维系统将同时满足汽车行业的制造和性能需求；(Iii)通过利用分层体系结构，回收碳纤维将作为半结构部件找到高价值的市场。我的建议是通过设计来定义这些层次化的微结构，然后开发合适的制造方法来实现它们。

Breakthroughs in the development of new materials have historically been achieved largely by trial and error. My vision is that there is a new generation of advanced hierarchical materials that has never been addressed and can be achieved by design. This new generation draws inspiration both from recent experimental observations in existing materials and from biomimetics, and is made possible by recent advances in modelling and manufacturing. The main challenges faced by today's composites industry include (i) damage tolerance, (ii) manufacturability and (iii) sustainability. I argue that (i) hierarchical micro-structural designs for composites will be more damage tolerant and achieve over 100% increase in fracture toughness, (ii) that hierarchical discrete carbon-fibre systems will simultaneously address manufacturing and performance needs of the automotive industry, and (iii) that recycled carbon fibres will find a high-value market as semi-structural parts by also exploiting hierarchical architectures. My proposal is to define these hierarchical micro-structures by design and to then develop suitable manufacturing methods to realise them in practice.