Novel nano-structured material for life-cycle support of structures from polymer composite materials
A novel nano-structured material is developed to support the life-cycle of a structure, manufactured from fibrous polymer composites (laminates). The material is embedded in-between plies without any loss of mechanical properties. Several key problems are solved: 1. Monitoring the degree of cure at manufacturing. 2. Out-of-autoclave (vacuum bag only) technology. 3. Out-of-oven technology and anti-icing/deicing technologies. 4. Structural health monitoring with machine learning for damage detection in-flight or in-service.
New Industry And Energy
New materials and substances
5 years
Russia, China
Synthesis of multi-functionalities at life-cycle support (from manufacturing to service) of a structure from fibrous polymer composites (laminates) by the novel nano-structured material, which is embedded in-between plies without any loss of mechanical properties. Several key problems are solved: 1. At manufacturing, when polymer is cured, it is important to know the degree of cure to avoid unjustified energy expenses. The new material works as a sensor, measuring the degree of cure. 2. Autoclaves are the "bottle-neck" of industry for structures manufactured from prepregs - only big corporations like Boeing can allow to buy big autoclaves to cure big structures. The new material allows to replace an autoclave with the vacuum bag only (out-of-autoclave, vacuum-bag-only technology), allowing small companies to enter the market. 3. The new material can be utilized as a heater. At manufacturing, this allows to save energy. In our lab, we reduced energy costs 40-fold, with the theoretical limit being 100-fold for future developments. In flight of an aircraft, the new material can be embedded as a heater for deicing/anti-icing without significant modifications of the existing design of the structure (wing of an aircraft of UAV, blade of a helicopter), which is of special importance for Arctic region. At Boeing, they apply a layer of liquid metal to this purpose. Our solution is more practical and easier to implement. 4. In aircrafts, damage is typically monitored by fiber-optics. They have their drawbacks - embedment of an optical fiber can cause stress concentrations and future damage initiations, and equipment is expensive. Our material can also work as an in-flight sensor for structural health monitoring. To this purpose, we develop the machine learning methods to post-process the data and detect damage in-flight.
Several (8) discussions in media
1. Russian patents 2778215, 2796241, 2807427, 2822868 2. Chinese patent publication CN 117233243 A . 3. Y. Zhao, Q. Liu, R. Li, S.V. Lomov, S.G. Abaimov, K. Xiong, H. Zhang, C. Chen, Q. Wu, Self-sensing and self-healing smart fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite embedded with CNT film, J. Intelligent Mat. Sys. Struct., 2023, DOI 10.1177/1045389X221147662. 4. S.V. Lomov, I.S. Akmanov, Q. Liu, Q. Wu, S.G. Abaimov, Negative temperature coefficient of resistance in aligned CNT networks: Influence of the underlying phenomena, Polymers, 15(3), 678, 2023, DOI 10.3390/polym15030678.
