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“Composites also enable multifunctionality in terms of instrumentation and automation through the use of embedded sensors, actuators, and controls,” he continues.  “In addition, these materials offer the potential for specific geometric shaping, treatment, and reflection or absorption.”

Yarlagadda emphasizes that success with the development and application of multifunctional materials will involve going beyond the materials themselves and addressing design and manufacturing. 

“New fibers and resins with good properties are just pieces of the puzzle,” he says.  “To me, the challenge lies in systems integration—how to put all of the pieces together, beginning with the material and working through the design, manufacturing, and prototyping phases.”

Nanotechnology has opened up even more possibilities for multifunctionality, but, again, Yarlagadda emphasizes the importance of the system in exploiting the properties of the individual elements. 

“In a way,” he says, “you have to have a ‘host’ to hold the materials together to form a useful product.  There might be some cases where you could use nanoscale materials as is, but in other cases, you’ll need them on a larger scale.  The challenge is to keep those unique properties of the nanoscale materials, but fabricate them in bulk.”

To solve such complex problems, Yarlagadda often teams with others having complementary expertise.  Depending on the specific issue being addressed, he may collaborate with colleagues in electrical engineering, materials science, or physics.

For example, he has collaborated with Professor of Physics John Xiao on the use of composites for electromagnetic applications and with Assistant Professor Kristi Kiick from Materials Science and Engineering on self-healing systems.

“The microstructure is critical,” Yarlagadda says, “because that’s what determines the properties, so the manufacturing technique used has to preserve that microstructure. The ultimate goal is a design and manufacturing method that will produce a material which performs in the desired way.” 

The Center’s approach to research enables Yarlagadda to apply his expertise to a wide range of programs and projects.  “Our philosophy is based on vertical integration, working from the development of new materials to design to manufacture to building prototypes,” he says.

“First with the Army Materials Center of Excellence, the focus has been on basic materials research.  Our CMT Program has focused on design and performance, while our ONR program has addressed manufacturing science.  My work with multifunctional materials fits across the board.”

Yarlagadda enjoys collaborating with small companies in his work.  “They have a lot of interesting ideas,” he says.  “We’re developing composites with a variety of capabilities, including electromagnetic, energy storage, and health monitoring.”

“Within each of these areas, there are subprograms dealing with specific aspects of the problem.  Small companies are working in a lot of these niche areas, and we can gain a lot by working together with them to understand a particular research problem.”

“Multifunctional materials offer tremendous potential,” Yarlagadda says.  “But meeting that potential will require concurrent development of materials, design, processing, and sensor technologies for inspection and health monitoring.  It’s putting all these pieces together to solve the puzzle that fascinates me.”

OTHER NEWS

The membrane technology improves quality by allowing volatiles to escape uniformly throughout the part, but its effectiveness is contingent upon compatibility between the membrane and the resin being used.  Automation and sensors have been developed for the process, with the ultimate goal being to enable users to tailor membrane selection to the resin of choice for a given application. 

“More than 90 people attended Solange’s talk,” said CCM Assistant Director Dirk Heider, who chaired the session on liquid molding processing.  “There is a very strong interest in VARTM processing for aerospace structures, and both our ONR and FAA efforts are addressing these issues.”

“SAMPE provides a unique and valuable forum for scientists, engineers, and academicians,” said CCM Associate Director Suresh Advani.  “This prestigious award demonstrates the fundamental research being carried out at CCM that directly addresses the current needs in composites.”

UDaily Story:

Published 5:39 p.m., Nov. 27, 2006
UD's Pochan receives John H. Dillon Medal
Darrin J. Pochan, associate professor of materials science and engineering, has won a top award for outstanding research by a young polymer physicist. Full Story in UDaily

CONSORTIUM

CCM would like to thank Sioux Manufacturing Corporation, Fort Totten, ND, for the recent renewal of their membership. We also wish to thank our many other members for their ongoing support, and for continuing to participate in consortium activities. To learn more about our Industry-University Consortium, please visit

http://www.ccm.udel.edu/Consortium/members.html .

Conference Proceedings

Thostenson, E. T. and T-W. Chou, “Multifunctional Carbon Nanotube/Epoxy Composites: Processing and Characterization,” Proceedings of the 38th International SAMPE Technical Conference, Dallas, TX, November 6-9, 2006.

Thostenson, E. T. and T-W. Chou, “Multi-Scale Hybrid Nanotube/Fiber Composites: Processing and Characterization,” Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Textile Composites (TEXCOMP-8),Nottingham UK, October 16-18, 2006.

Journals

Jadhav, P, and R. Mantena, “Parametric Optimization of Grid-Stiffened Composite Panels for Maximizing Their Performance under Transverse Loading, Composite Structures, 77 (3), pp. 353-363, 2007.

Xiao, J. R.,  R. C. Batra, D. F. Gilhooley, J. W. Gillespie, Jr., and M.A. McCarthy, “Analysis of Thick Plates by using a Higher-Order Shear and Normal Deformable Plate Theory and MLPG Meshless Method with Radial Basis Functions,” Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 196 (4-6), pp. 979-987, 2007.

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