Multi-Scale and Multi-Level Design of Advanced Composites and Structures

Dear Colleagues,

Fiber-reinforced composites have been widely used in aerospace, automobile, marine and other fields due to their lightweight, excellent mechanical properties and strong designability. With the rapid growth of the demand for composites, the problems of how to further improve the performance and reduce the cost have gradually become prominent, which restricts its further development. The possible solution is combining the multi-scale and multi-level modeling methods with the consideration of material-structure-manufacturing-optimization integration. At the molecular scale of materials, material genetic engineering is a frontier technology rising in the field of materials in recent years. Its basic idea is to integrate high-throughput computing, high-throughput experiments and data technology to accelerate the design and development of new materials. For the composite structures, micro-scale, mesoscale and macro-scale models can be established respectively to design the fiber and matrix components, mesostructure configuration, ply scheme and macro-structure parameters. For the fabrication process, a multi-field coupled curing process model is the key for the determination of the curing temperature, pressure, time and specific mold scheme. Based on the established calculation models, the information of different scales and levels can be transmitted to each other. Combined with advanced optimization algorithms and machine learning methods, the bespoke design of materials or structures can be achieved through the high-throughput calculation for a specific target demand. For composite products, the progressive workflow of material design, ply design, conceptual design, geometric design, engineering design and fabrication process design, as well as the multi-scale synchronous design of structural materials at macro, meso, micro and molecular scales are realizable. Since digital design or digital twin is mainly based on theory or simulation models, it would significantly improve the design efficiency, while maintaining low cost.

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight the progress on the design of advanced composites and structures in multi-scale and multi-level

Prof. Dr. Jiang-Bo Bai
Dr. Zhenzhou Wang
Dr. Qiuhong Lin
Dr. Xueqin Li
Dr. Chuyang Luo
Dr. Swee Leong Sing
Dr. Weidong Li
Dr. Hua Deng
Dr. Zeyu Sun
Guest Editors

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