Func­tio­nal hier­ar­chi­cal com­po­si­tes for struc­tu­ral ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons - Hiero­Comp

Pro­ject sum­ma­ry

It is pro­po­sed to de­ve­lop a new class of com­po­si­te ma­te­ri­als: func­tio­nal, hier­ar­chi­cal com­po­si­tes for struc­tu­ral ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons. Me­cha­ni­cal pro­per­ties of these ma­te­ri­als will be en­han­ced by control-​ling the state and pro­per­ties of in­ter­faces bet­ween rein­for­ce­ments and ma­trix at both nano and mi­crosca­les. The en­gi­nee­red mi­crost­ruc­tu­re will also allow mo­ni­to­ring the state of da­ma­ge while in ser­vice. Epoxy-​based com­po­si­tes, which have a broad range of struc­tu­ral ap­p­li­ca­ti­on in vari-​ous in­dus­tries will be con­side­red. The need for epo­xies with su­pe­ri­or tough­ness is si­gni­fi­cant in ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons in which vi­bra­ti­ons are im­portant (e.g. wind tur­bi­ne and he­li­cop­ter bla­des), in glues and other ap­p­li­ca­ti­ons in the au­to­mo­ti­ve in­dus­try. The con­sor­ti­um is a close col­la­bo­ra­ti­on be-​tween two aca­de­mic part­ners and three in­dus­tri­al part­ners from Aus­tria and Ro­ma­nia, with com-​plementary ex­per­ti­se and with the ca­pa­bi­li­ty to bring the pro­po­sed ad­van­ces from the con­cept state to spe­ci­fic pro­ducts.