The goal of this effort is to estimate the residual strength of composites exposed to over- temperature events. Proposed is a physics-based, multi-dimensional simulation software to quantify the system-level response of composites exposed to heating via thermal and structural modeling. A computational framework, jointly developed by Reaction Engineering and the University of Buffalo for over 15 years, will be utilized to perform the thermal and mechanical computations. The framework is uniquely positioned to address the stated problem and fully capture the required physics of conjugate heat & mass transfer, accurate & fast chemistry, structural response of composite materials, and complex geometry to accurately predict the time dependent temperature distribution and residual strength. The final result of the proposed work effort will be an advanced modeling and simulation software package augmented with machine learning to predict the residual strength of heat damaged composites with very high accuracy.
Benefit: This project will provide the U.S. Navy and contractor personnel with a state-of-the-art, computationally efficient software tool for rapid heat damage assessment of polymer composite aircraft structures. The proposed software is unique to the target markets because existing simulation tools cannot provide a quick solution for the damage assessment of large-scale composite structures experiencing over-temperature incidents. The software will help users to understand thermally-induced degradation and thereby facilitate the development of a repair solution. The software will help limit the replacement of suspect components to situations only where required. Replacement, as opposed to performing rapid modeling, is expensive, reduces aircraft availability, and is a readiness degrader for military applications. At natural extension of the software outside of military applications is with commercial aerospace and automotive industries, where composite materials are becoming increasingly common.
Keywords: Failure Modes Interaction, Failure Modes Interaction, Post-Fire Damage Assessment, thermal analysis, Property degradation, Decomposition Kinetics, Thermo-Mechanical Model And Thermo-Chemical Model, Composite Fire
