MS- 1-1
Mini-symposium title
1-1 – Mechanics of Composite Materials
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Organisers
Pedro Camanho (University of Porto), Paul Weaver (University of Limerick)
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Mini-symposium description
This mini-symposium embraces all topics related to the mechanical response of composite materials and their structures. It specifically focuses on laminated composites. While there are topics that require further studies to reach full maturity, such as advanced damage models, other topics are still mostly unexplored, such as the effects of high strain rates, spatially variable stiffness or environmental factors on the fracture properties.
Furthermore, new concepts for composite materials have recently emerged, as tow-spread thin-ply laminates, whose mechanical behaviour (in terms of e.g. matrix cracking and delamination) differs from the general knowledge of standard laminates. In addition, there is a current effort to design laminated composites with a pseudo-ductile behaviour or to face the problems raised by the inherent brittleness of composites materials, as well as morphing response and energy-storage composite materials.
The particular topics to be covered in this mini-symposium, but not limited to, include:
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Failure criteria.
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Time dependent behaviour and environmental effects on the mechanical properties.
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Fracture toughness at high strain rates.
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Dynamic response.
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Morphing composites
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Thermoplastic composites modelling
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Variable stiffness composites
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Damage mechanisms (matrix cracking, reinforcement-matrix debonding, etc.)
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Mechanical response to impact events.
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Mechanics of tow-spread thin-plies laminates.
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Mechanics of multifunctional composites.
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Pseudo-ductile composites.
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Toughness enhanced composites.
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Mechanics of composite structural batteries.
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