Metallic and Composite Materials and Structures

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced metallic and composite materials and structures are used in different branches of modern engineering practice. Therefore, this issue covers the newest results and trends in modeling, fabrication, testing, and damage detection of metallic and composite materials and structures subjected to different types of loadings.

Advanced multifunctional and classical composite materials including ceramic, metal, polymer or cement matrix composites as well as so-called natural composites applied to the design of modern structural elements require almost perfect assessment of their behavior under complex thermomechanical loadings. Their internal stochastic or homogenized structure depends on the fabrication technology applied in industry or the conditions of their creation in nature. For example, multifunctional materials have a complicated geometry of reinforcement, including nanoparticles or nanofibers, etc., which are strictly related to specific demands of their application in the design of structural elements.

In the space or car industry, the most important applications are thin-walled structures made of different types of metallic alloys, fibrous composites, laminates, and multifunctional composites. The current applications in modern engineering require analysis of structures of various properties, shapes, and sizes, including structural hybrid joints, subjected to different types of loadings: quasistatic, dynamic, cyclic, thermal, impact, penetration, etc.

Advanced metallic and composite materials and structures should satisfy multiple structural functions during operation conditions. Structural functions include mechanical properties like strength, stiffness, damage resistance, fracture toughness, damping, etc. Nonstructural functions include electrical and thermal conductivities, sensing, actuation, energy harvesting, self-healing capability, electromagnetic shielding, etc. 

The aim of this SI is to understand the basic principles of damage initiation and growth, leading to fracture processes in advanced metallic and composite materials and structures. At present, it is widely recognized that important macroscopic properties, like macroscopic stiffness and strength, are governed by processes that occur at one to several scales below the level of observation. A thorough understanding of how these processes influence the reduction of stiffness and strength form the key to the analysis of existing and the design of improved innovative structural composites and elements.

The study of how these various length scales—nano, micro, and meso—can be bridged or taken into account simultaneously in multiscale models is particularly attractive for composite materials and structural elements, since they have a well-defined structure at the above specified levels.

Prof. Tomasz Sadowski
Prof. Liviu Marsavina
Guest Editors

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