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The University of Southampton
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Engineering

Research project: Through life performance of sustainable composites

Currently Active: 
Yes

Motivation: Lack of confidence in sustainable composite durability

Methodology & Innovations:

  • Accelerated and long term ageing providing new data on sustainable composites
  • X‐ray computed tomography to identify damage mechanisms
  • Use of (quantum) chemistry to support material science
  • Reliability techniques to determine sensitivity to composite constituent variability

Mapping failure mode to age

x-ray CT of Glass/Linseed specimens:

Tensile and compressive failure
Unaged
Compressive failure only
3 day aged

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chemistry of degradation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of different aged specimens – unlike epoxy resin, no variation in glass transition temperature of linseed with age (hollow at blue dotted line constant)
Differential scanning calorimetry
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT‐IR) showing difference (black circle) in specific molecular structure between aged (red) and unaged (blue) linseed.
FT‐IR

Related research groups

Maritime Engineering
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