Multi-functional Composite Structures-Current Progress and Future Prospectives
Revolutionary advances in fiber-reinforced composites in the 1960s led people to dream of aircraft manufactured solely from composites. Now, fiber reinforced composites such as graghite/ epoxy laminates are making the transition from utilization in secondary components to composing primary load bearing structures. For example, the entire fuselage and wings of the new Boeing 787 is primarily fabricated from composites. This trend is expected to continue for future aircrafts. The heterogeneity and anisotropy of composite materials make them much more complex than traditional alloys. They are more challenging to manufacture and join together, and are susceptible to stress concentration and internal damage mechanisms that reduce the durability of components. Now the challenge is to develop technologies to maintain these complex structures to keep aircraft missions ready and safe. To further enhance aircraft performance and payload capabilities, the composite structures should have multifunctional capabilities. The multi-functional composites should have built-in intelligence and capabilities of self-sensing, self- diagnosis, prognosis, and self-repair in order to adapt and respond, to prevent catastrophes and improve safety, to enhance performance, and to minimize life-cycle costs. This presentation will attempt to discuss where multi-functional structures came from and obstacles in terms of technology acceptance and freedom in design which have prevented multi-functional composite structures from becoming successful. Areas to be addressed specifically will be wireless senor network and fiber optics development for monitoring the composite structures. A significant part of this presentation will then devoted to built-in diagnosis and multi-functional capabilities in the micro-and nano-scales.
YUAN F. G.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering North Carolina State University
国际会议
上海
英文
210
2007-10-15（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）