Infusible Thermoplastic Hybrid Composites with Added Potential

Composite materials are of great interest in numerous engineering applications particularly in automotive, wind and tidal turbine blades and construction industries. By combining two or more materials, hybrid composites can be developed which offer a better balance in mechanical properties than non-hybrid composites. Institutes and industry are increasingly working on solutions that are based not on single materials but on efficient and elegant combinations. Predicting their mechanical properties is challenging due to the synergistic effects between the materials. The main objective of this PhD project will be to develop innovative infusible thermoplastic hybrid composites which will offer enhanced mechanical properties and cost benefit.

An one-step, in-situ process will be used where the reinforcements will be impregnated with very low-viscosity monomer or prepolymer, and then the monomer will be converted into high molecular weight polymer in the mould cavity after it has completely wet-out the reinforcement. The matrix monomer will be combined or chain extended with other co-monomers to generate a hybrid interpenetrating network matrix in order to tailor the composite properties like strength, damage tolerance, solvent resistance etc.

In this context, the proposed research will be focussed towards the development of tailored thermoplastic hybrid composites. The project will aim to a) develop an infusion based optimised manufacturing process b) characterise the in-situ polymerised matrix under various processing conditions c) characterise extensively various mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of the composites with a special focus on the fibre/matrix interface d) investigate the moisture and solvent resistance properties e) characterise the failure behaviour and f) establish the structure-property correlations. The main objective of this research project will be to establish scientific pathways that will enable developing hybrid composites with tailored properties relevant to a broad range of industries.