Composites Research at Ghent University: Reinforcing Your Composites Activities !
Composites Research at Ghent University: Reinforcing Your Composites Activities !
Composites Research at Ghent University: Reinforcing Your Composites Activities !
@ Ghent University
Reinforcing your composites activities !
http://www.composites.ugent.be/
Mission statement:
“To study the mechanical behaviour of composite materials by a combined approach of
instrumented experimental testing and adequate numerical modelling, in close
collaboration with the composites industry and its suppliers”
Very strong growth of the research group over the last years
Evolution of internal PhD students, external PhD students and postdocs in research group UGent-MMC (2002-2009)
30
25
20
Number
Postdoc
15 External PhD
Internal PhD
10
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Year
The section “Our research areas” gives a thematic overview of our current research
activities in the field of composite materials:
Aerospace composites
Composites for wind energy
Composites for wave energy
Composites for bicycles
Crash performant composites
Blast proof composites
Composite joints
Next generation composites
The section “Our industrial services” lists the generic services that we offer to the
industry, research institutes and other interested parties:
Mechanical characterization
Dynamic testing
Inspection and monitoring
Outdoor field testing
Composite processing
Numerical simulation and design
Advanced finite element modelling
Aerospace composites
Composite joints
UGent bird strike set-up Bird impact of gelatine replica Finite element model of satin weave composite
Ultrasound inspection
Embedded optical fibre sensors in thermoplastic Fatigue testing of Microscopic inspection of fatigue damage in
composite thermoplastic composite textile composite
Unbalance= α kgm
Force due to F(t)
wind impact
Scale model of “The Energy Box” at the World Expo 2010 in Blade design for vertical axis Simulation of effects of blade imbalance
Shanghai (China) (Prof. Steven Van Dessel) wind turbine on the stability of the turbine tower
Finite element simulation of composite blade Definition of composite lay-up and visualization of First and second eigenmode
stacking sequence of turbine blade of vertical axis wind turbine
UGent lab-scale slamming set-up for wave impact Large-scale slamming tests at the canal in Ghent
Filament winding simulation Survivability design of composite buoys for Simulation of breaking wave slamming
of composite buoy storm conditions
UGent test for bracket stiffness UGent test for torsion stiffness Instrumented racing bicycle for field testing
of comfort and vibration levels
Outdoor field testing with measurement of forces, accelerations, crank positions and strains
Kinematic model of racing bicyle with applied road Finite element simulation of the free body UGent all-in-one test set-up for
accelerations vibration modes of a racing bicycle frame fatigue testing of racing bicycles
Large-scale drop Energy absorbing High-speed imaging of drop weight impact of circular pultruded composite tubes
tester tubes
Final deformation pattern of different types of crushed composite tubes Corresponding simulation of the final deformation patterns
Small-scale free air blast set-up Crushing behaviour of pultruded composite tubes Large-scale blast tests with shock tube at the
at the Royal Military Academy under free air blast loading military domain in Brasschaat
Simulation of detonation and propagation of shock Experimental and simulated deformation patterns of composite tubes under air blast loading
wave in free air
Double Cantilever Beam (DCB) test for Mode I fracture toughness Online microscopy of fracture Simulation of mode I fracture test of
toughness testing adhesive joint
Mechanical testing of adhesive joints (single lap shear, double lap shear, peel tests,…)
UGent infrared welding set-up Fusion bonding of thermoplastic composites Fusion bonded laminate Single lap shear testing of fusion
bonded joint
Micro-tomography image of steel fibre Future turbine blade with embedded Micro-tomographic image of embedded Structural flax
filaments smart sensing optical fibre sensor in composite fibre/epoxy composite
Self-sensing composites with embedded strain sensing and miniaturized wireless data-
acquisition
3D woven thermoplastic composites for mass production of lightweight recyclable
composites
Simulation of three-dimensional yarn in Three-dimensional woven fabric (TU Dresden) Three-dimensional woven glass fibre
fibrous preform preform (TU Dresden)
Mechanical characterization
Dynamic testing
Composite processing
Electromechanical testing Servo-hydraulic testing Bias tension testing of glass fibre/epoxy composites with bonded strain gauges
machine machine
Temperature chamber
Extensometer measurement
Digital Image Correlation (DIC) for full-field strain measurement on cruciform specimens Testing of pre-stressed section of sailing
mast
Drop weight testing of bumper Vibration testing of carbon/epoxy Dedicated accessoiries Slamming wave impact of a
component coupons for fatigue testing composite cylinder
Drop weight test Drop weight test Pendulum impact test rig Impact testing of foams for Rail shear fixture for fatigue
(height 3 m) (height 12 m) bicycle helmets testing in pure shear
Microscopic inspection of damage SEM image of textile composite Micro-tomography measurement of plain weave glass/epoxy composite
in composites
Embedded or surface mounted optical fibre sensors for in-situ strain measurement
Pressure vessel Testing of carbon/epoxy C-profile Ultrasound scanning set-up with five Ultrasound C-scan of delamination in impacted
with optical fibres with embedded optical fibres degrees of freedom composite laminate
Strain measurement Strain gauge measurement on sailing mast rigging Proof-of-concept testing of a new type of wave energy
on sailing yacht converter at sea
Experience with outdoor field testing at sea, river banks and other locations without
electrical grid connection
Portable transient recorder oscilloscope Digital high-speed camera (up to 250 000 frames Portable ultrasound scanning equipment (with
(up to 100 MHz sample frequency) per second) 64-probe phased array)
Filament wound vessels Autoclaved carbon/epoxy laminate (1 mm Fabric reinforcements for resin infusion and
thick) resin transfer moulding
Resin infusion
Filament winding
Adhesive joints
Determination of fibre volume fraction (matrix digestion, pyrolysis) and porosity content
Autoclave for thermoset prepregs Filament winding of pressure vessels Vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding
for thermoset composites
Meso-scale unit cell model of a 5-harness Simulation of strain concentrations in a biaxially Three-dimensional model of friction and
satin weave carbon/PPS composite loaded composite cruciform specimen wear of large-scale composite bearings
The complete modelling chain for simulation of the mechanics of composite structures is
covered:
definition of CAD geometry (SolidWorks, Catia)
definition of ply stackings and draped layers (Catia/CPD, Simulayt)
static and dynamic finite element simulation (Abaqus, LS-Dyna)
optimization of topology and/or material parameters (iSight, evolutionary strategies)
kinematics and multibody dynamics of complex composite structures (UM, Mathcad)
Simulation of mechanics of composites under wide variety of loadings (drop weight impact,
crushing, blast loading, wave impact, fatigue, contact/wear, vibration and resonance,
centrifugal and inertia forces,...)
Access to High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster for calculation of very large finite
element models (2000+ 64-bit cores, 3.2 Terabyte RAM)
Topology optimization of cruciform geometry for biaxial testing of composite laminates Simulation of stresses in the adhesive layer of a
single lap shear joint
Simulated bird impact on aircraft wing Calculated interaction of ultrasound beam with composite plate under different incident angles
Effect of progressive wear on the radial stress distribution in composite bearings Simulation of oblique soccer ball bounce
33 research projects with external funding over the last five years (2006-2010)
Successful acquisition of advanced research equipment (digital high speed camera, high-
speed transient recorder oscilloscope, electromagnetic shaker, portable ultrasound
equipment, read-out unit for optical fibre sensors,...)
81 Science Citation Index publications over the last five years (2006-2010)
15 successfully defended PhD theses over the last five years (2006-2010)
Over the last five years (2006-2010), 10 to 15 master thesis students every year
JEC Paris Innovation award 2009 “Environment and energy”, awarded at the largest
European exhibition on composites “JEC Composites” (http://www.jeccomposites.com/)
ESCM Award 2008 for Wim Van Paepegem as “Best Young European researcher in
composites”, awarded by the “European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM)” during
the 13th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM-13, Stockholm, Sweden,
2-5 June 2008)
One of the best represented research groups at the largest European Conference on
Composite Materials (ECCM)
Member of the “Materials Research Cluster Gent” which groups more than 200
scientists in a consortium of Ghent University and several research institutes and
companies (Arcelor Mittal, BIL, Sirris, CRM, Clusta, SIM, Flamac, OCAS)
http://www.mrcluster.be/
Member of five valorisation consortia of Ghent University – Industrial Research Fund (IOF):
- Plateau (Photonics Innovation Center)
- DuraBUILDmaterials (Innovative technologies for durable building materials)
- Victoris (Valorisation centre for technological optimization, research & innovation in sport)
- ChemTech (Polymer and organic chemistry: from innovation to valorisation)
- SET (Sustainable Energy Technologies)
http://www.techtransfer.ugent.be/ > IOF kenniscentra
Member of the council and executive committee of the European Society for Composite
Materials (ESCM)
http://www.escm.eu.org/
Board member of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering
(SAMPE)
http://www.sampe-benelux.org/
Member of the FWO scientific research network “Optical Measurements Techiques for
Structures and Systems (OPTIMESS)”
http://optimess.vub.ac.be/
President of BNCM – The Belgian National Committee for Theoretical and Applied
Mechanics
http://www.rasab.be/ > National Scientific Committees
Ghent University
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Research group “Mechanics of Materials and Structures”
Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 903
9052 Zwijnaarde
Belgium
Tel.: +32-(0)9 331 04 32
Fax: +32-(0)9 264 58 33
http://www.composites.ugent.be/