Multilayer Composite Materials Research Articles

Experimental and numerical analysis of 3D-printed pure PLA and ceramic-reinforced PLA multilayered composites

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a remarkable manufacturing method that helps us to produce such complex structures without the need for extra components or parts as required by most other manufacturing processes. This research article has focused on 3D-printed multi-layered polymer composite materials for various kinds of biomedical applications. In this research investigation, polylactic acid (PLA) is considered an alternative to the existing material in biomedical applications. In addition, for further improvement of the mechanical performance of PLA composite structures, ceramic-reinforced PLA (CRPLA) filament materials have been utilized to be multilayered with pure PLA materials. Ceramic particles have proved to enhance the mechanical and thermal properties of polymer composites. The tensile, compression, and flexural strength of 3D-printed pure PLA, ceramic composite, and multilayered laminates were evaluated experimentally, which was validated by FE simulation analysis. The results concluded that the tensile, flexural, and compressive strengths of multilayered 3D-printed composite laminates were increased by 28.9%, 5.9%, and 16.3%, respectively, compared with pure PLA-printed laminates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been utilized to investigate the fractography analysis of multilayered composite laminates. Moreover, thermal characterization has been done by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis.

Studies of Thermal Conductivity of Graphite Foil-Based Composite Materials.

We have proposed and developed a method for measuring the thermal conductivity of highly efficient thermal conductors. The measurement method was tested on pure metals with high thermal conductivity coefficients: aluminum (99.999 wt.% Al) and copper (99.990 wt.% Cu). It was demonstrated that their thermal conductivities at a temperature of T = 22 ± 1 °C were <λAl> = 243 ± 3 W/m·K and <λCu> = 405 ± 4 W/m·K, which was in good agreement with values reported in the literature. Artificial graphite (ρG1 = 1.8 g/cm3) and natural graphite (ρG2 = 1.7 g/cm3) were used as reference carbon materials; the measured thermal conductivities were <λG1> = 87 ± 1 W/m·K and <λG2> = 145 ± 3 W/m·K, respectively. It is well established that measuring the thermal conductivity coefficient of thin flexible graphite foils is a complex metrological task. We have proposed to manufacture a solid rectangular sample formed by alternating layers of thin graphite foils connected by layers of ultra-thin polyethylene films. Computer modelling showed that, for equal thermal conductivities of solid products made of compacted thermally exfoliated graphite and products made of a composite material consisting of 100 layers of thin graphite foil and 99 layers of polyethylene, the differences in temperature fields did not exceed 1%. The obtained result substantiates our proposed approach to measuring thermal conductivity of flexible graphite foil by creating a multi-layer composite material. The thermal conductivity coefficient of such a composite at room temperature was <λGF> = 184 ± 6 W/m·K, which aligns well with measurements by the laser flash method.

Equivalent Modeling of Multilayered Conductive Composite Materials for EMI Shielding Applications

Equivalent Modeling of Multilayered Conductive Composite Materials for EMI Shielding Applications

Dynamics analysis of nose landing gear shimmy performance considering aircraft structural flexibility

This study examines the sliding vibration characteristics of high-speed aircraft constructed with multi-layer composite materials and designed with a large cabin opening, which consequently leads to diminished overall structural integrity and lower natural vibration frequencies. To assess the influence of structural flexibility on the shimmy behavior of the nose landing gear during taxiing, a rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model was developed based on multi-body dynamics theory, integrating considerations of structural flexibility. The modal stiffness derived from this model was compared to that obtained from a finite element analysis, and simulations were performed to evaluate shimmy stability. The results reveal that fuselage motion enhances the damping coefficient for anti-shimmy while concurrently decreasing the oscillation frequency. When the structural frequency approaches the oscillation frequency, the stability of the system may be jeopardized. Therefore, it is crucial to prevent the alignment of the landing gear’s shimmy frequency with the structural frequency during the design process. Excessive flexibility in the fuselage can result in substantial lateral deformation, which disrupts the normal vibration pattern of the wheels’ angular motion and reduces the system’s capabilities for anti-shimmy and sliding control. Furthermore, when the fuselage demonstrates significant flexibility, the influence of the nose section on shimmy becomes pronounced, indicating that employing earpieces to simulate the body’s stiffness for shimmy analysis is not a suitable approach.

Wind Turbine Blade Material Behavior in Abrasive Wear Conditions.

The wind turbine blades are exposed, during functioning, to the abrasive wear generated by the impact with air-borne sand particles. In this work, samples of a commercial wind turbine blade, made of a multi-layered composite material, are subjected to abrasive wear tests, using an air streamed wearing particles test rig. Following the analysis of the tests' results was found that the only protection against failure of the blade by abrasive damage is the surface layer. After its' penetration, the layers below are quickly destroyed, leading to the blade destruction. The investigation of the main abrasive wear influencing factors-particles' speed and acting time, showed that the particles' speed is the most important. To prove that an artificial neural network-based model was used. Also, a method for improvement of the blade resistance to abrasive wear is proposed, consisting of applying on the blade's surface of a polymeric foil. This offers supplementary protection of the surface layer, delaying its degradation. The tests performed on the protected samples prove the validity of the proposed method. Overall, the work showed the weakness of the blades' resistance in case of working in abrasive wear conditions and identified an improving method.

Deformation and fracture of lithosphere-inspired polymeric multi-layer composites

Inspired by the diversity of structures and patterns inherent in the earth's lithosphere, this study endeavors to enhance the interplay between stiffness and toughness through the introduction of a new class of polymeric multi-layer composite materials termed by the authors as "lithomers". Structured single-edge notched bending specimens were fabricated using a combination of additive manufacturing and casting, employing two different methacrylate-thiol resins. The outer layers exhibit a stiff and brittle characteristic, while the layer in between is compliant in nature. Three types of lithomers with wave-like structures and one with a rectilinear structure were investigated regarding their stiffness and toughness in a 3-point bending setup. The results were compared with those of a pure stiff matrix material. The findings revealed that fracture toughness increased regardless of the interlayer's shape compared to the pure matrix material. Correspondingly, this enhancement in fracture toughness correlated with a reduction in stiffness. The most balanced results in terms of stiffness and fracture toughness were achieved, with the lithomer having a wave-like structure in its initial stage. It exhibited a roughly 27 times improvement in fracture toughness with a moderate decrease in stiffness of approx. 1/5 compared to the pure matrix material.

Terahertz time-domain spectral hierarchical thickness measurement based on integer genetic algorithm

ABSTRACT Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is a widely used non-contact detection technology with significant potential in the field of non-destructive testing. In this study, the transfer function of the coating system is derived based on the Rouard model and the refractive index of the coating within the transfer function is modelled using the Debye model. The hierarchical thickness of the multilayer composite material is fitted by random optimisation algorithm. Considering the complexity of the objective function and the practical accuracy requirements in engineering problems, the integer genetic algorithm is adopted to find the optimal parameters. The comparison of the ordinary genetic algorithm and the integer genetic algorithm reveals that the integer genetic algorithm requires a significantly smaller population size and computation time than the ordinary genetic algorithm. Furthermore, the predicted thickness obtained by the integer genetic algorithm is more repeatable, has higher computational efficiency, and exhibits smaller errors. Our results indicate that combining the integer genetic algorithm with the Rouard model holds potential applications in thickness measurement of multilayer composite materials.

Ultrasonic detection, characterization, and simulation of delamination defects in composite laminates

Composite materials are of great importance in many industries due to their unique properties, strength and durability, but they also include disadvantages that can affect their use and must be studied. In this article, we simulate the acoustic interference field received by a delay line following an interaction between an acoustic field and a multilayer carbon fibre composite material using the ray approach. In this case, the simulation is performed using carbon fiber composite plates, where some plates have lamination defects such as delamination, while others are free of these defects. Experimental measurements are performed on carbon fiber composite plates with and without delamination defects introduced beforehand, without knowing their thickness. The thickness of each ply is 0.125 mm. The transducer used is a focusing immersion transducer type parametric (V 312) that operates at a frequency of 10 MHz The simulation results almost exactly corroborate those of the experiment. The simulation model was employed to determine the thickness of the induced delamination, which is 0.2 mm, found in the second and third layers.

Harmonizing lightweight and ablation resistance: Design and performance of multilayer composite insulation materials for solid rocket motors

AbstractThe realization of lightweight insulation materials is often accompanied by a decrease in ablation performance. Coordinating the contradiction between lightweight and ablation resistance is the key to the development of thermal protection technology. Addressing the need for high‐performance insulation materials within solid rocket motors (SRMs) combustion chambers, we designed three multilayer composite structural insulation materials and studied their properties. The results show that among these constructed multilayer composites, the bilayer structure exhibited the lowest density at a mere 0.72 g/cm3, marking a 27% reduction compared to the basic structure. Remarkably, the bilayer configuration demonstrated superior ablation resistance, showcasing a 25% decrease in the line ablation rate in contrast to the basic structure after oxygen‐acetylene test. This achievement embodies the successful harmonization of lightweight properties with ablation resistance. Furthermore, based on the performance and microstructure of the char layer, a further analysis revealed the enhancement mechanism of ablative performance by the multilayer composite structure. It was found that the synergistic effect of the compact/porous structure of the char layer grants the bilayer structure thermal insulation material optimal ablative performance. This work provides strong support for improving the performance of SRMs.Highlights Insulation materials with multilayer composite structures are designed. The materials exhibit both lightweight and superior ablation resistance. Compact/porous char layers enhance material ablation performance.

Effective elasto‐(visco)plastic coefficients of a bi‐phasic composite material with scale‐dependent size effects

We employ the theory of asymptotic homogenization (AH) to study the elasto‐plastic behavior of a composite medium comprising two solid phases, separated by a sharp interface and characterized by mechanical properties, such as elastic coefficients and “initial yield stresses” (i.e., a threshold stress above which remodeling is triggered), that may differ up to several orders of magnitude. We speak of “plastic” behavior because we have in mind a material behavior that, to a certain extent, resembles plasticity, although, for biological systems, it embraces a much wider class of inelastic phenomena. In particular, we are interested in studying the influence of gradient effects in the remodeling variable on the homogenized mechanical properties of the composite. The jump of the mechanical properties from one phase to the other makes the composite highly heterogeneous and calls for the determination of effective properties, that is, properties that are associated with a homogenized “version” of the original composite, and that are obtained through a suitable averaging procedure. The determination of the effective properties results convenient, in particular, when it comes to the multiscale description of inelastic processes, such as remodeling in soft or hard tissues, like bones. To accomplish this task with the aid of AH, we assume that the length scale over which the heterogeneities manifest themselves is several orders of magnitude smaller than the characteristic length scale of the composite as a whole. We identify both a fine‐scale problem and a coarse‐scale problem, each of which characterizes the elasto‐plastic dynamics of the composite at the corresponding scale, and we discuss how they are reciprocally coupled through a transfer of information from one scale to the other. In particular, we highlight how the coarse‐scale plastic distortions influence the fine‐scale problem. Moreover, in the limit of negligible hysteresis effects, we individuate two viscoplastic effective coefficients that encode the information of the two‐scale nature of the composite medium in the upscaled equations. Finally, to deal with a case study tractable semi‐analytically, we consider a multilayered composite material with an initial yield stress that is constant in each phase. Such investigation is meant to contribute to the constitution of a robust framework for devising the effective properties of hierarchical biological media.

EVOLUTION OF THE PRESS BONDING PROPERTIES OF Al/Cu BIMETAL BULK COMPOSITES (EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION)

Nowadays, the application of bimetallic laminates with special capabilities is increasing and has experienced high growth. These properties include high corrosion resistance, mechanical properties, thermal stability, and lightweight. In the midst of the technologies of multilayer composite materials, accumulative press bonding (APB) as a solid-phased method of welding is one of the most common techniques for the production of multilayer composites. One of the most important aims for this choice is the press pressure, which can generate a suitable mechanical connection and strong bonding between produced metal layer components. In this study, bimetal aluminum/copper bulk composites have been fabricated via the APB technique. Then, the effect of pressing parameters such as plastic strain and the number of layers on the stress distribution has been investigated. For samples with eight layers, the shear stress between the layers reached 3.1 MPa which is a suitable condition to generate a successful bonding. The stress applied on the layers has also increased with increasing the thickness reduction ratio. The interlayer shear stresses also increase with decreeing the thickness. With a higher reduction in thickness ratios, the amount of sinking layers was greater along the entire length of the sample, which led to the crushing of copper layers. During the APB process at higher pressing passes, increasing the volume of virgin material in the direction of the press led to increasing the compaction and better bonding of Al and Cu layers to each other.

Enhanced X-ray shielding efficiency and visible light degradation performance of a multilayer composite protective material

To mitigate the adverse effects of high-energy radiation, such as X-rays, on patients during medical procedures, a multifunctional composite nanofibrous membrane has been engineered to shield against low-energy X-rays. This study involves integrating processed oil-tea camellia shells (OCS) powder into molten polylactic acid (PLA) for modification. Concurrently, metallic Bi is introduced to enhance Bi2WO6, which is subsequently combined with modified PLA and electrospun into nanofibrous membranes for photocatalytic antimicrobial and organic pollutant degradation. Additionally, sodium hyaluronate (NaHA) and a silver nanoparticle solution are electrospun with PLA to form a skin-friendly protective layer. Following this, a chitosan (CS) solution containing WO3 and B4C is used as a coating on the multilayered membranes. The membranes are then freeze-dried to create sandwich-structured multilayer composite protective material. This method addresses challenges associated with polylactic acid (PLA) in electrospinning and alleviates limitations such as low light absorption and slow charge transfer in Bi2WO6. Compared to similar materials, this composite material is lightweight, flexible for cutting, and exhibits strong X-ray shielding capabilities. The composite nanofibrous membrane demonstrates a shielding efficiency of 97.75 ± 2.05 % at low X-ray energy (46 kVp). Moreover, under visible light, the membrane generates reactive oxygen species, resulting in the efficient removal of 98.03 % of methylene blue (MB), 96.35 % of rhodamine B (Rh.B), and 91.51 % of methyl orange (MO) within 180 minutes. Furthermore, it displays bactericidal activity against E. coli and S. aureus under both dark and light conditions. In natural settings, the composite membrane undergoes gradual degradation in soil, completely decomposing within 28 days due to the influence of rainfall and microorganisms. Consequently, this composite membrane holds significant promise for specialized medical protective applications.

Multi-scale structural design of multilayer magnetic composite materials for ultra-wideband microwave absorption

Broadband microwave absorbing (MA) materials have important applications in reducing electromagnetic radiation pollution and realizing low scattering characteristics. However, current MA materials with single-layer structure generally cannot meet this requirement due to the difficulty in achieving good impedance matching. Here, we design a multilayer-structured MA material, which consists of a wave transmitting layer, a carbon-magnetic material composite absorbing layer, a strong magnetic absorbing layer and a reflector layer. Hollow Co/CoFe@C composite particles prepared using CoCoPBA as templates are used as fillers to design carbon-magnetic material composite absorbing layer. The Co/CoFe bimagnetic phases enhance permeability while the hollow structure optimizes permittivity, which endows this absorbing layer with strong microwave absorption ability with a reflection loss of −47.18 dB. The introduction of a strong magnetic absorbing layer that combines FeSiAl with high permeability and SmFeB with high coercivity further significantly improves the overall impedance matching of the material. Benefitting from the multi-scale structural design, the obtained multilayer MA material achieves strong microwave absorption in both low and high frequency ranges, and the effective absorption bandwidth reaches 12.85 GHz, far superior to the traditional single-layer MA material.

Detection of Debonding Defects in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP)-Rubber Bonded Structures Based on Active Lamb Wave Energy Analysis.

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are widely used in the fabrication of solid rocket motor casings due to their exceptional performance. However, the bonding interface between CFRP and viscoelastic materials (rubber) is prone to debonding damage during service and storage under complex environmental conditions, which poses a significant threat to the structural integrity and reliability of the engine. Existing nondestructive testing (NDT) methods, such as X-ray imaging, infrared thermography, and ultrasonic testing, although somewhat effective, exhibit significant limitations in detecting interfacial defects in deep or multilayered composite materials, particularly under the challenging conditions of service and storage. This study proposes an innovative method based on active Lamb wave energy analysis and introduces the Damage Evolution Factor (DEF), specifically designed to detect and evaluate interfacial debonding defects in CFRP-rubber bonded structures within solid rocket motors during service and storage. Through numerical simulations and experimental validation, we selected the A0 mode Lamb wave, which is more sensitive to interfacial damage, as the incident wave and excited it on the surface of the structure. Displacement time-history response signals at observation points under different damage models were extracted and analyzed, and DEF values were calculated. The results show that DEF values increase with the size of the interfacial debonding damage. Similar trends were observed in experimental studies, further validating the effectiveness of this method and demonstrating that DEF can be used for the quantitative evaluation of interfacial debonding defects in CFRP-rubber bilayer bonded structures.

Study of Structure Formation in Multilayer Composite Material AA1070-AlMg6-AA1070-Titanium (VT1-0)-08Cr18Ni10Ti Steel after Explosive Welding and Heat Treatment

Multilayer composite materials, consisting of layers of aluminum alloy and steel, are used in the manufacturing of large engineering structures, including in the shipbuilding and railcar industries. Due to the different properties of aluminum alloys and steels, it is difficult to achieve high-strength joints by conventional welding. Therefore, these joints are produced by explosive welding. In the present work, the structure of a multilayer material, AA1070-AlMg6-AA1070 (aluminum alloys)-VT1-0-08Cr18Ni10Ti (steel), was investigated after explosive welding and heat treatments were performed under different conditions. The microstructure of the AlMg6 layer at the AlMg6-AA1070 interface consists of shaped anisotropic grains extending along the weld interface. The AA1070 layer is enriched with magnesium due to its diffusive influx from AlMg6. In the AlMg6 and VT1-0 layers, adiabatic shear bands are found that start at the weld interface and propagate deep into the material. The optimal temperature for the heat treatment is 450–500 °C, as internal stresses are reduced at this temperature and the grain structure of the AlMg6 layer is not coarse. Tear strength testing revealed that the tear strength of the composite material after explosive welding was 130 ± 10 MPa, which exceeded the strength of the AA1070 alloy.

THE EFFECT OF NONWOVEN REINFORCEMENT ON FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF GLASS, CARBON AND HYBRID COMPOSITES

This study examines the effect of nonwoven polypropylene veils on the flexural strength (3 and 4-point) of various layers of glass, carbon, and hybrid (glass and carbon) composite structures. The eight layers of the composite structures were manufactured using the vacuum infusion method with woven glass and carbon fabrics in various layer configurations. The flexural strength and elongation of the composites were found to be effectively influenced by the placement and number of nonwoven polypropylene reinforcement veils in the multilayer composite material.

Ultrasonic signal classification for composite materials via deep convolutional neural networks

ABSTRACT Ultrasonic testing (UT) is the most commonly used non-destructive testing method in the aerospace field. However, for the detection of delamination defect in multi-layer composite adhesive materials with metal and non-metal bonding, traditional energy statistics methods are limited and cannot achieve high-precision automatic signal classification. This article proposes a signal classification model based on hybrid neural networks. By studying the classification accuracy of convolutional neural networks (CNN) and long short-term memory networks (LSTM) for different types of signals, a relatively balanced classification is achieved, which effectively improves the classification accuracy. By integrating attention mechanisms, the ability of the detection model to identify key features is further enhanced. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves an accuracy of 98.57%. Bayesian Optimisation (BO) can effectively and automatically select the optimal hyperparameters, and achieve global optimisation. In the experiment, the accuracy increased by 0.73% compared to the benchmark value. Comparative experiments show that the signal classification model established in this paper has good performance.

Multi-layered medium ultrasonic phased array sparse TFM imaging based on self-adaptive differential evolution algorithm

Abstract Multilayer Composite material structures have been widely used in modern engineering fields. However, defects within these materials can adversely affect mechanical properties. Ultrasonic phased array total focusing method (TFM) imaging has advantages of high precision and dynamic focusing over the entire range, achieving significant progress in homogeneous medium detection. However, heavy computational burdens of multilayer structures lead to inefficient imaging. To address this issue, a sparse-TFM imaging algorithm using ultrasonic phased arrays suitable for multilayer media is proposed in this paper. This method constructs a fitness function with constraints such as main lobe width and sidelobe peak. Its objective is to obtain the distribution of sparse array element positions using an self-adaptive differential evolution algorithm. Subsequently, the delay time of each array element in multilayer media sparse TFM is calculated using the root mean square (RMS) principle and combined with amplitude weighting, the method corrects the imaging results. Compared with the Ray-based full-matrix capture and TFM method (Ray-based FMC/TFM), the RMS-based full-matrix capture and TFM (RMS-based FMC/TFM), and the phase shift method, the experimental and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly reduces the imaging data volume, improves computational efficiency, and maintains quantitative errors within 0.2 mm.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the solid cold-welding properties of the APB process of Al/Cu bulk composites

Nowadays, the use of bimetallic laminates with special capabilities is increasing and has experienced high growth. These properties include high mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, lightweight, and thermal stability. Among the technologies of multilayer composite materials, Accumulative Press Bonding (APB) as a solid-phased method of welding is one of the most common techniques for the production of multilayer composites. One of the most important aims for this choice is the press pressure, which can create a strong and suitable mechanical connection between produced metal layer components. In this study, the APB method has been used to produce bimetal aluminum/copper bulk composites as its novelty for the first time. After that, the effect of pressing parameters such as strain and number of layers on the stress distribution has been investigated. The shear stress among the layers reached 4 MPa for the samples with eight layers which is a good condition to generate a successful bonding. With increasing the thickness reduction ratio, the stress applied to the layers has also increased. As the thickness decreases, the interlayer shear stresses also increase which leads to a better bonding between layers. With increasing the thickness reduction ratio, the amount of layers sinking in each other was greater than before, which led to the crushing of copper layers along the entire length of the sample. During the process, as the number of passes increased, the volume of virgin material in the direction of the press rose, which led to increased compaction and better adhesion of Al and Cu layers to each other. The bonding strength enhances from 47 to 95 N for samples manufactured with one and four cycles of APB due to the increment of virgin metal normal to the pressing direction showing a 102% enhancement.

Polydimethylsiloxane enabled triple-action water-resistant coating with desirable relaxation rate in clear aligner

Clear aligners undergo rapid stress relaxation in warm, moist oral environments, compromising therapeutic effectiveness and longevity of treatment. To develop an innovative multilayer composite material with improved stability and reduced stress release, we have engineered an innovative coating characterized by the surface aggregation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which imparts a pronounced hydrophobic effect. In addition, the chemically and physically cross-linked structure of the coating reduces the free volume created by molecular chain rearrangement owing to the presence of water molecules, thereby minimizing water penetration into the coating. Concurrently, the coating’s internal structure is enriched with numerous polar functional groups to capture water molecules that penetrate into the inside of the coating. Through combination of these mechanisms, water molecules are effectively sequestered, thereby impeding their penetration into the polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) substrate. The impact of the polydimethylsiloxane content on the triple-action water-resistance mechanisms was thoroughly examined using attenuated total reflection (ATR)-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), water absorption rate, water swelling rate, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The low surface energy cross-linked polyurethane coating is applied to the polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) substrate to create a novel composite material with specific mechanical properties and reduced stress relaxation. The composite material remains stable in simulated oral environment with linear swelling rate of 0.58 % upon water absorption. Additionally, the stress release rate of the composite material within 336 h is notably lower (23.64 %) than that of PETG (62.29 %).