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

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.

Hierarchical and quasi-fractal micro-structures, as the ones envisaged in this proposal, do not exist at all in synthetic composites. Hence this proposal contains a high level of novelty relative to the international landscape. The composites industry is likely to change substantially in the next decades - as the aeronautics sector moves to requiring improved damage tolerance, the use in the automotive sector increases, and end-of-life solutions become a legal requirement, successful industries will move to providing new intermediate products which offer suitable micro-structures. The micro-structures proposed here address the need for reducing the development times of new materials, for reducing lead time for structural design (through greater understanding of the materials' mechanical response), for reducing manufacturing time (with the focus on DCFS solutions), and for the sustainable use of carbon fibre (by providing micro-structures for rCFRPs aimed at high-value applications). With 1,500 companies in the UK's composites sector producing added value of around £1.1 billion, it is fundamental for the competitiveness of the sector to be at the forefront of micro-structural design and manufacture.
The research proposed here is therefore of strategic interest to the UK - to its 1,500 composites industries, and to all end users and ultimately the entire population. While some composites industries will benefit indirectly from this project, others will benefit more directly. From the latter beneficiaries, a considerable number are partners in this project, providing an ample representation for suppliers of raw materials, providers of intermediate materials and providers of end products. These companies will follow closely the progress in this fellowship, and will therefore be in an ideal position to exploit results and thus benefit directly.