Wind energy, biomimicry, 3D woven composites, topology optimisation, fracture and fatigue resistance

该项目旨在将珍珠母和鲍鱼等海洋生物的生物结构转化为3D编织复合材料制造技术。演化收敛壳具有层间软质和刚性构建块的特征拓扑结构，使它们能够实现比单个构建块大1，000倍的断裂韧性。该机制主要基于裂纹偏转。目标是：（1）创建包含生物拓扑结构的关键特征的参数单位单元，（2）选择和优化一系列人造和天然纤维、纱线和基质材料以模拟生物拓扑结构，（3）开发3D编织单位单元的计算模型并评估其相对于基线复合材料的性能，（4）生产实验室规模的演示器，以实验验证裂纹偏转机制和增强的断裂和疲劳性能。

The project aims to translate biological structures, such as those in the mother of pearl and abalone sea creatures, to 3D woven composite manufacturing technology. Evolutionary convergent shells exhibit characteristic topologies with interlayered soft and stiff building blocks, allowing them to achieve 1,000 larger fracture toughness than that of the individual building blocks. The mechanism is primarily based on crack deflection. The goals are: (1) create a parametric unit cell encompassing the key features of biological topologies, (2) select and optimise a range of human-made and natural fibres, yarns and matrix materials to emulate biological topologies, (3) develop a computational model of the 3D woven unit cell and assess its performance against baseline composites, (4) produce lab-scale demonstrators to experimentally validate crack deflection mechanism and enhanced fracture and fatigue performance.