Design of Composite Structures for Sustainability and Recyclability

在复合材料领域，回收利用、可持续性和环境友好性是相对较新的概念。在航空航天和汽车行业，他们开始意识到需要一种更平衡的方法来设计和制造这些材料。有一些方法可以使复合材料更加环保。一是在可持续结构的设计中使用天然纤维复合材料。另一种是利用航空航天工业中许多典型的复合材料制造工艺所固有的废物：预浸料切断、不合格部件和部件修剪。如果利用这些废物，不仅可以节省成本，而且还可以减少产生不能使用的废物。因此，应该在两个方面进行重要研究：(1)可持续设计可以通过使用更可持续的基础材料来实现；(2)对于那些不可持续的材料，然后找到回收和再利用的方法。所涉及的科学是采用当前的建模和测试方法来改进可回收和可持续材料的设计和制造，这些材料与常规复合材料的基本形式不完全相同。该方法必须使用先进的材料模型、材料和工艺表征设备以及整体可持续设计方法。

Recycling, sustainability and environmental friendliness are relatively new to the world of composite materials. In aerospace and automotive industries, they are beginning to realize the need for a more balanced approach to design and manufacturing with these materials. There are ways to make composites more environmentally friendly. One is to use natural fiber composite materials in the design of sustainable structures. Another is to make use of the waste that is inherent to many composite manufacturing processes typical of the aerospace industry: prepreg cutoffs, rejected parts and part trimmings. Make use of the waste, then it would not only save on cost but would also lower the production of non-useable waste materials. There are thus two fronts where important research should be conducted: (1) sustainable design can be achieved by making use of more sustainable base materials, and (2) for those materials that are not sustainable, then find a way to recycle and reuse them. The science involved is to adapt current modeling and testing methods to improve the design and manufacturing of recycled and sustainable materials, which are not quite in the same basic form as regular composite materials. The approach must use advanced material models, material and process characterization equipment and an overall sustainable design approach.