Advanced two-dimensional braided composite materials for industrial applications using renewable resources: manufacturing, testing and modeling

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Composite materials production and use constitute a multi-billion-dollar industry having revolutionized a number of fields (aerospace, automotive, biomedical, civil) due to their lightweight, high mechanical performance, environmental resistance, and important energy and material savings. Braids are one of the oldest textiles. Recently, high end industries, have explored, or are using, braided composite materials as one possible option in product and component development. Braided composites are very versatile materials, highly adaptable to a number of applications. The uptake of braided composites has been relatively slow compared to other composite material manufacturing processes. A manufacturing technique that is as versatile as braiding comes with a large number of considerations and complexities in developing and using advanced braided composite material: quality of manufacturing, comprehensive understanding of their properties and behaviour under complex and fatigue loading, and as a result, predicting their properties. For those interested in considering braided composites, the overall costs of the systems and the research required, often makes it a low or slow return on investment solution. However, if these challenges are successfully addressed in a state-of-the-art equipped research facility, braiding can become a staple of advanced manufacturing for a very board range of industries. A second broader challenge with braided, and other composite materials, is their environmental impact. There have been a number of efforts to shift to more environmentally friendly composites using agricultural waste products; Alberta is rich in such sources of agricultural waste materials that could benefit the industry. My research program's long-term goal in composite materials focuses on better understanding the behaviour and production of primarily two-dimensional braided composite materials and minimizing their impact on the environment, as well as translating our related discoveries to industry. In the past 10 years, our group at the Multipurpose Composite Group, has been making significant headway in meeting the braided composite manufacturing, mechanical testing, and mechanical property prediction challenges. This NSERC Discovery Grant proposal, which builds on the successes of previous grants, and will train at least 16 HQP, aims to address in the short term, the following challenges: 1. To develop a complete life cycle analysis for green braids that could be manufactured using Albertan agricultural waste. 2. To improve the quality of the manufacturing process and braided composite end product focusing on yarn twist. 3. To experimentally determining the behaviour of braided composites under complex and fatigue loading scenarios as well as thermal effects. 4. To develop new models, based on accurately measured geometry, to better predict mechanical properties including fatigue behaviour and weathering effects.