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J. Compos. Sci.
Special Issues
Geometrical and Structural Design of Load Bearing Composites
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Geometrical and Structural Design of Load Bearing Composites

A special issue of Journal of Composites Science (ISSN 2504-477X). This special issue belongs to the section "Composites Manufacturing and Processing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 5929

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Parvez Alam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Institute for Materials and Processes, The University of Edinburgh, Sanderson Building, Robert Stevenson Road, Scotland EH9 3FB, UK
Interests: biomimetic design; composite materials; bioinspired engineering; comparative biomechanics; mechanical metamaterials; cellular solids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue, “Geometrical and Structural Design of Load Bearing Composites”, aims to bring you the latest advances in composite materials, where the focus is on geometrical design optimisation and its influence on mechanical behaviour. Mechanical behaviour guides the way in which we design and use structures and components in a wide variety of industrial settings (e.g. aerospace, automotive, defence, renewable energy, biomedical, construction). High-end properties such as strength, stiffness, impact-resistance, and fatigue life, are important to couple to low weight, low cost and ease of manufacturing. Cellular solids and the structural arrangement of composites are examples of enablers of such couplings, but there remains considerable room for further advancements in the science, engineering and mechanical design in each of these areas. Original research papers, short communications and review articles are solicited for this Special Issue, with particular focus in the following areas.

  • Mechanical behaviour and properties (stress / strain / time relationships) of composite materials in relation to their structures, lay-ups, and architectures;
  • Geometrical characterisation of composites in relation to mechanical behaviour;
  • Fracture, failure and plasticity of composites that couple geometrical design and mechanical properties;
  • Mechanical behaviour of cellular solids and mechanical metamaterials;
  • Mechanical behaviour of sandwich composites with a focus on geometrical/structural design;
  • 3D printing / additive manufacturing of cellular solids and mechanical metamaterials as applied to load bearing composites;
  • Biomimetic mechanical design of composites and cellular solids;
  • Kirigami and origami structures as applied to load bearing composites;
  • Modelling and simulation of cellular solids, mechanical metamaterials and internal composite architectures with a focus on geometry and design, and as applied to load-bearing composites.

Dr. Parvez Alam
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Composites Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sandwich structures/sandwich composites
  • Cellular solids
  • Geometrical design
  • Mechanical metamaterials
  • Origami and kirigami mechanical materials
  • Structural design
  • Composite architectures
  • Composite design
  • Additive manufacture/3D printing
  • Biomimetic design

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3161 KiB  
Article
The Tensile Behaviour of Unaged and Hygrothermally Aged Asymmetric Helicoidally Stacked CFRP Composites
by Chidume Nwambu, Colin Robert and Parvez Alam
J. Compos. Sci. 2022, 6(5), 137; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs6050137 - 09 May 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1651
Abstract
This paper concerns the effects of hygrothermal ageing on the tensile behaviour of assymetric helicoidally stacked carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites. MR70 12P carbon fibre epoxy prepreg sheets were manufactured into laminated composites comprising constant inter-ply pitch angles ranging from 0° [...] Read more.
This paper concerns the effects of hygrothermal ageing on the tensile behaviour of assymetric helicoidally stacked carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites. MR70 12P carbon fibre epoxy prepreg sheets were manufactured into laminated composites comprising constant inter-ply pitch angles ranging from 0° to 30°. The composites were tested in tension (according to BS ISO 527-5:2009) as either dry unaged specimens or following hygrothermal ageing in seawater at the constant temperatures of 40 °C and 60 °C for 2000 h. Both tensile modulus and tensile strength are found to be detrimentally affected by hygrothermal ageing, and the extent to which ageing affects these properties is a function of the inter-ply pitch angle. Higher hygrothermal ageing temperatures are found to decrease the tensile modulus and strength ratios of asymmetric helicoidally stacked composites when compared against UD composites subjected to the same conditions and the strength and stiffness ratios of all composites when compared against unaged equivalents. Significantly, therefore, we show that the degradation of helicoidal composite properties under hygrothermal conditions, in general, occurs more rapidly than it does in UD composites, and thus the long-term use of helicoidal composites in immersed environments should take into account these differences. A second order relationship is observed for the mechanical properties of the composites when plotted against their inter-ply helicoidal pitch angles. As such, a mixtures model was modified to incorporate the observed effects of laminate inter-ply pitch angle and used to predict the tensile modulus of unaged composites. The predictions are within one standard deviation of the experimental arithmetic mean; however, the model can only be used for dry helicoidal composites, as ageing alters the microstructures in an irregular manner between the different sample sets. The development of this mixture model is useful as it provides a justifiably simple route to predicting the properties of dry helicoidal structures, albeit within the bounds of specific interply-pitch angles. Finite element analyses (Hashin failure) elucidate the plies that are most likely responsible for composite failure. The validity of these numerical predictions is evidenced by observing primary fracture paths in the composites. Finally, hygrothermal ageing is found to enable greater in-plane (mode III) twisting of individual laminates under loading, with certain laminate angles being more prone to twisting than others. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geometrical and Structural Design of Load Bearing Composites)
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20 pages, 5392 KiB  
Article
The Design of Carbon Fibre Composite Origami Airbrakes for Endeavour’s Darwin I Rocket
by Hyeon (Ann) Lee and Parvez Alam
J. Compos. Sci. 2021, 5(6), 147; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcs5060147 - 01 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3469
Abstract
This paper concerns the conceptual design of a carbon fibre composite airbrake intended for use on the Endeavour Darwin I rocket. The airbrake design is based on a Flasher origami model and we research its actuation mechanism, its ability to increase drag, and [...] Read more.
This paper concerns the conceptual design of a carbon fibre composite airbrake intended for use on the Endeavour Darwin I rocket. The airbrake design is based on a Flasher origami model and we research its actuation mechanism, its ability to increase drag, and its mechanical behaviour when actuated. The aim of this work was to improve upon the current ‘Pancake’ airbrake model and we find that the origami Flasher generates six times more drag at a given torque. The Flasher is designed to be built of quasi-isotropic CFRP resting on a carbon fibre woven membrane. When subjected to distributed loads from drag, the Flasher presses into the membrane material causing it to stress at levels of 1.4 GPa. Taking into account a safety factor of 1.2 for the rocket airbrake, this stress lies far below the failure stress of the carbon fibre woven membrane. In this work, the composite Flasher origami airbrake design offers improvements in drag and weight reduction, and will withstand drag forces when actuated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geometrical and Structural Design of Load Bearing Composites)
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