Author: sophie.spence

Abstract: Recent advances in additive manufacturing with continuously-reinforced composites (AM-CC) has enabled the use of this process to realize mass-efficient, topology-optimized (TO), bioinspired structures.  The consideration of the use of AM-CC-TO primary structure has raised critical questions about this material’s performance and limits of manufacturability, both linked to defects at multiple length scales. This talk will briefly cover challenges related to AM-CC-TO structure, including defect structures, topological junctions, and reconsideration of structural allowables for attritable (limited-lifetime) aircraft.

10:00 to 11:00 20^th February 2023 University of Bristol, Queens Building, Faculty Board Room

We would like to thank Jevan once more for the seminar which was well received by all those who attended, both virtually and by more than 40 people online.

We recently welcomed Professor Dan Zenkert to the University of Bristol where he delivered a fantastic seminar on Multifunctional Carbon Fibre Composites to the CerTest team and to the wider Bristol Composites Institute as well as partners from the NCC.

Dan Zenkert is, since, 2001 a professor in Lightweight Structures at the department of Engineering Mechanics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Dan’s early research work was mainly focused on sandwich structures and sandwich core materials. He has also worked with cost optimisation methods for composite structures and recyclable composite materials. His current research interest is the area of so called structural batteries aiming at developing structurally load carrying materials that simultaneously store electrical energy like a battery. This research is now extended to include more functionalities to carbon fibre composites, such as sensing, morphing and energy harvesting, all properties intrinsically built into the load carrying material itself.

The presentation, on the 3rd Feb 2023, gave a brief introduction to so called structural batteries which in short are carbon fibre composite laminates that store electrical energy just like a lithium-ion battery. But more functions can be integrated using the coupling between mechanics and electrochemistry:, strain sensing, shape-morphing and energy harvesting – all built in to the material itself.