Hierarchical Micro/Nano Reinforced Multiscale Hybrid Composites for Vehicle Applications
To stimulate the U.S. economy and global competitiveness there is a push to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports and establish a domestic energy industry utilizing fuel-efficient vehicles. Nearly all vehicle fuel consumption goes to vehicle acceleration (kinetic energy), climbing a hill (potential energy), and overcoming frictional forces, all of which are associated with vehicle body weight. To reduce the energy consumption in next generation vehicles, it is essential to reduce the overall body weight of the vehicles. In addition to reducing dependence of foreign oil imports, this will have two major impacts. First, by reducing the weight of the constituent structural components, the fuel economy of the vehicles will be improved allowing longer travel distance, and second, by reducing fuel consumption, environmental impacts will be greatly reduced. In recent years, many industries have taken advantage of carbon fiber composite (CFC) to reduce the weight and maximize the performance. CFC materials offer high stiffness- and high strength-per-weight ratios, which are desirable in weight-sensitive applications. Unfortunately, the automotive industry in U.S. is far behind the aerospace industry in adoption of the CFC. This is partly due to the high cost of the fibers, the cost and source of fiber precursor materials, suitability of manufacturing processes, and the energy requirements for converting the precursors to the finished fibers. If fully realized and adopted by the industry, vehicles made of the CFC have potential to reduce the weight of their body structure by 60%. However, the use of the CFC materials alone, without any other added reinforcements, may not be sufficient to meet the Department of Energy goal of 75% reduction of composite body weight by 2050. One way to overcome this challenge is to use novel multiscale reinforced lightweight composites. In this project, Advent Innovations and Georgia Southern University have developed and tested a unique phase-enhanced hybrid nanocomposite fiber (HyFi) for composite materials. The hierarchical multiscale composite consists of macro-, meso-, micro- as well as nanofeatures, all of which are responsible for imparting unique and mutually exclusive mechanical properties. The fibers were engineered with micro-architectured reinforcements that inherently create hierarchical fillers for high strength and toughness. An innovative synthesis and fiber spinning process was used to manufacture the HyFi fibers with increased strength-to-weight and toughness-to-weight ratios. In addition, the HyFi fibers were coated with hybrid nano materials to increase fiber/matrix bonding and enhance filler/matrix interfacial load transfer. Both long-fiber and short-fiber (chopped) composite specimens were manufactured and subjected to mechanical testing to demonstrate the enhanced properties. The multiscale composite material will enable reduced weight and volume of structural components, resulting in increased vehicle energy efficiency and increased crashworthiness capabilities. In addition to automotive applications, the HyFi material can also address weight and energy challenges in other transportation sectors, such as aerospace, marine and railway, which would all benefit from reduced-weight structures suitable to operate in adverse environmental conditions with improved crashworthiness capabilities. Moreover, the development of new kinds of fillers with piezoelectric properties will enable structures integrated with health monitoring and energy harvesting abilities. The technology can be applied to any structural application. In fact, the availability of cheap, strong and tough composites structures would help to accelerate the adoption of composites throughout all industries where economic and environmental factors are driving weight reduction efforts. Furthermore, inclusion of chemically and thermally stable constituents to enhance the adherence properties of the fiber/matrix interface will allow the structure suitable for a range of operating environment. The application of the proposed innovation could keep these structures in-service for longer periods of time, often well beyond their designed service life. As these structures age, the proposed HyFi material system could meet the needs for regular inspection to enhance the reliability of the structures, improve the longevity of the structures, and ensure public safety in a cost-effective manner.
- Research Organization:
- Advent Innovations Limited Company
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Engineering & Technology. Office of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs
- Contributing Organization:
- Advent Innovations, Georgia Southern University
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0021754
- OSTI ID:
- 1862205
- Type / Phase:
- STTR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-AI-21754
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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