An Integrated Digital Framework for Manufacturing and Design of Composite Structures under Crash and Impact Loading

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High performance polymer matrix composites have increasingly become the material of choice for primary load bearing structures in aerospace (Boeing 787, Airbus 350, Bombardier C-series), automotive (BMW i3 and i8), energy (wind turbines) and defence (personal protection) industries. To realize the full potential of these advanced materials and reduce the time and cost required to introduce them in various design applications, it is critical to have science-based computational tools that can be used reliably and efficiently to predict the behaviour of the composite structure to loads that they are expected to sustain in-service. While significant progress has been made over the last couple of decades in structural analysis and design technologies for composite materials, the prediction of their response to extreme loading conditions such as crash and impact events that impart significant damage remains an elusive and challenging proposition. ******The manufacturing process of polymeric composites generally entails stacking of sheets of unidirectional or woven fibres that are pre-impregnated with resin (or pre-pregs) at various orientations over a tool of desired shape and then subjecting the entire assembly to a controlled cycle of temperature and pressure inside an autoclave or oven. This process results in the curing or solidification of the composite part during which the polymer matrix develops stiffness. The mismatch of the properties of the fibre and the resin at the micro-level combined with the layered and anisotropic nature of composite materials at the macro-level inevitably lead to generation of defects (e.g. residual stresses, spring-in, fibre misalignments, wrinkles, etc.) in the final manufactured component. Quantification of these as-manufactured properties (both geometrical and material) and their incorporation in the structural analyses is therefore a vital design requirement for composite structures where the material and the finished structure are built in one step. ******Building on the previous body of work developed by the applicant and his team of collaborators and students in the two core areas of process and damage modelling of composite materials, the aim of this research is to create a computational (digital) platform that integrates the manufacturing and structural simulations of composites to predict their response to crash and impact loading and apply it to typical composite material systems that are currently being used in aerospace and defence industries. The proposed research takes advantage of ongoing collaborations with leading international institutes and will lead to training of 4 Ph.D. and 2 M.A.Sc. students who will be supported partially or fully by this NSERC DG as well as several undergraduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and visiting students from the collaborating institutes who will be supported from other sources of funding. **