Projects
Experimental Characterisation and Model Development of the Thermomechanical Response of Notched Continuous Fibre Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites under Tension and Compression at Ambient and Elevated Temperature. Ghent University
Engineers need to justify the usefulness of Unidirectional Thermoplastic Fibre Reinforced Polymers in mechanical design before they can be integrated in high volume production lines of automotive suppliers. For this it is vital that 1) the experimental thermomechanical properties of the material are known; and 2) material models exist which can properly predict the material behaviour. In this project the fundamental knowledge required to ...
Cellulose from waste and bacteria in electro-spinning for continuous fibre reinforced 3D printed composites KU Leuven
Natural fibre potential as reinforcement in composites is restricted by their inherent properties (e.g. moisture sorption) and variability (mechanical properties are different even for same species). Continuous reinforcing yarn is used in 3D printing, providing more strength and stiffness. For continuous natural fibre reinforced filaments, fibres must be twisted to keep the yarn integrity, reducing the mechanical properties of the composite ...
Bio-inspired design of fibre interfaces with intermittent weak and strong areas for obtaining tough composites KU Leuven
One of the most ambitious goals in structural materials is to achieve exceptional mechanical properties, with an ideal combination of light weight, high strength, and high toughness. For many biomaterials, strategies to achieve the advantageous unification between structure and mechanical properties have been through millions of years of evolution, as in the case of nacre, one good example of a material that combines high strength, high ...
SBO Project: A new generation of high-performance building materials and elements integrating aerogels and textile reinforced cement composites Vrije Universiteit Brussel
the ambitious global goals of a sustainable society such as energysaving,
reduced CO2‐emission and use of resources, and efficient
construction. High-performance construction materials and systems
combining mechanical and thermal properties can answer this call. At a
mechanical level, Textile Reinforced Cements (TRCs) have shown their
...
Nacre inspired synthesis and modification of fillers for better performing polymer composites KU Leuven
Lighter, better performing, and more sustainable materials are a key market need in this era. Nature provides marvellous source of inspiration to develop such materials as many natural systems possess extraordinary properties, features, or appearances such as excellent mechanical strength and/or toughness, self-cleaning, self-healing, etc. Nacre, forming the inner layer of shells, is one such source of inspiration with its biomineralization, ...
Evaluation and optimalization of the fire safety of structures strenghtened with NMS reinforcement Ghent University
Since half a decade, an increasing number of applications is based on near surface mounted FRP reinforcement (FRP NSM). Herewith the extra FRP (fibre reinforcement polymer) tensile reinforcement is glued in slits which are cut into the concrete surface. The project investigates the fire resistance of concrete structures strenghtened with FRP NSM: endurance under fire conditions, material behaviour, optimized strenghtening and fire protection ...
Reprocessable thermosets and composites based on vanillin building blocks Ghent University
From the early 20th century, when synthetic polymers were first discovered, to the cutting-edge research that is being carried out today, the field of polymer chemistry has expanded exponentially. A consequence of this huge success is the environmental impact of such large quantities of man-made materials being synthesised, which includes the depletion of finite resources and generating substantial amounts of plastic waste. On the other hand, ...
Multiscale experimental and numerical characterisation of textile reinforcements for enhanced nano-interleaved composites Ghent University
Textiles are ideally suited for technical engineering applications thanks to their unique combination of lightness, flexibility and strength. Especially, fibre reinforced composites are seeing a tremendous growth for designing light-weight structural components. The fibres, the building blocks of any textile, and their arrangement in the textile and the composite (microstructure) determine the macroscopic properties. It is thus of utmost ...