Materials & Structures
Research includes work on creep and creep modelling,polymer melt rheology, development of lowcost carbon fibre for automotive applications, rapid tooling, structural composites, vehicle crashworthiness and magnetic materials.
Creep measurement facilities have been enhanced using SRIF funding (£60k) leading to further understanding of metallic creep through creepmodelling. This series of outputs includes a proposal for new phenomenological models and the application of a dynamical systems approach to the enhanced understanding of material properties.
Collaboration with researchers at ORNL, USA has led to a joint Sunderland/ORNL project looking at the development of lowcost carbon fibre for automotive applications. This research is part of a bigger programme conducted in collaboration with ORNL and its US sponsors (US DoE, USA Automotive Composites Consortium). One researcher (Prof. Alan Wheatley) is the UK member of the IEA Executive Committee for its Implementing Agreement (IA) on Advanced Materials in Transportation (AMT) and is the author of the annex within this IA concerning the development of lowcost carbon fibre.
Research into vehicle crashworthiness has several themes. One is the development of further understanding of composite material behaviour and vehicle behaviour under a range of crash conditions. The second is the development of novel design for improving vehicle crash responses through the use of complex dampers which is part of a research theme to develop smart front end structures. Finally, studies on airbags and restraint systems have been undertaken.
Expertise in polymer technology and polymer melt rheology has led to the award of an EPSRC Industrial CASE award (£60k, Wheatley) also funded by Wellstream Ltd (£30k). This project is concerned with the development of novel thermallyinsulating polymeric materials for use in deepsea applications.
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