Mecha(tro)nic System Dynamics (LMSD) & Composite Materials Group (CMG)

General expertise of the research group

• Experimental identification of material characteristics of fibre-reinforced composites
• Development of numerical modelling strategies for material properties in a multi-scale context, including micro-, meso- and macro-scale
• Development of experimental methodologies for the identification and objective quantification of uncertainty and variability in material properties
• Development of modelling strategies for manufacturing and processing methods of fibre-reinforced
  composites
• Numerical modelling strategies for structural components at the micro- and macro-scale, both for metals and fibre-reinforced composites
• Development of generic numerical formalisms and methodologies for the propagation of uncertainty and variability in structural components
• Methodologies for the identification and objective quantification of uncertainty and variability in material properties
• Comprehensive methodologies for the propagation of uncertainty and variability in built-up structures, covering processes, materials and structures

Specific hydrogen- related expertise & research topics

• Application of generic experimental and simulation procedures to characterize pressure vessels, with a focus on reliability:
• Filament wound pressure vessels based on axisymmetric geometry, including cylindrical components and dome-like end caps: from micro- to macro-scale [1-8 above]
• μCT-scanning procedures and image analysis for the geometrical identification of material structure at the micro-scale (voids and porosities)
• High-pressure vessels (10²-10³ bar of differential pressure) for applications in storage of hydrogen in gaseous state
• Low-pressure vessels (10-1-100 bar of differential pressure) for applications in storage of hydrogen in liquid state, development of efficient design procedures for thin-walled geometries (cylindrical, spherical, toroidal, conical primitives) with membrane stress only and high volumetric efficiency
• Topology design and thermo-mechanical analysis of multi-lobe liquid hydrogen fuel storage tanks for application in reusable launchers and blended-wing aircraft
• Topology design and thermo-mechanical analysis of storage tanks for transport of hydrogen as cargo payload in aircraft

Available equipment/tools

• Composite processing equipment (hot press, autoclave, RTM, infusion)
• Drum winder and filament winding machines
• Mechanical testing of composites, including split-ring test setup
• Damage monitoring tools for mechanical testing (digital image correlation , acoustic emission), C-scan
• SEM and optical microscopy
• μCT-scanning equipment (XCT Core Facilities) and image analysis tools
• DIC equipment and image analysis software
• VoxTex model generation for fibre reinforced composites

International collaborations

• Toyota Motor Europe (BE)
• Mines ParisTech (FR)
• Mines Douai (FR)
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• Hyviate (DE)

Participating in FL/B/EU funded projects with H2 related research

• SIM ICON project OptiVaS HBC.2019.0070 Optimized pressure vessels through composite Variability Simulation; start 01 Aug 2020 – extended till 31 Jul 2024, coordinator: Toyota Motor Europe; partners: Siemens Industry Software, Plastic Omnium, KU Leuven
• Horizon EU, call CleanH2-2023, ECOHYDRO, Economic manufacturing process of recyclable composite materials for durable hydrogen storage; start 2024 – end 2028, coordinator Institut Mines Telecom, FR; 15 partners from 7 EU countries, including Airbus and Electra Commerical Vehicles Ltd
  UK
• SIM SBO project RELFICOM HBC.2017.0321 Reliability of fibre-reinforced composites: materials design & variability; start 01 Jan 2018 – completion 31 Dec 2021, coordinator: KU Leuven ; partners: Toyota Motor Europe, Siemens Industry Software, Plastic Omnium
• FWO doctoral grant strategic basic research, 1SG1523N, Conformable Pressurized Tanks for Hydrogen Storage and Transportation; start 01 Nov 2022 – scheduled till 31 Oct 2026
• VLAIO Baekeland doctoral grant, HBC.2022.0713 Study of the residual stresses in a thermoplastic filament winding process for high-pressure H2-storage vessels; 2023-2027, in cooperation with Covess

Main relevant publications

1. Straumit, I., S. V. Lomov and M. Wevers (2015). “Quantification of the internal structure and automatic generation of voxel models of textile composites from X-ray computed tomography data.” Composites Part A 69: 150-158. doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2014.11.016.
2. Upadhyay, S., A. G. Smith, D. Vandepitte, S. V. Lomov, Y. Swolfs and M. Mehdikhani (2022). Analysis of voids in filament wound composites using a machine‐learning‐based segmentation tool. 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM-20): paper 61918.
3. Zhao, Y., P. Druzhinin, J. Ivens, D. Vandepitte and S. V. Lomov (2021). “Split-disk test with 3D digital image correlation strain measurement for filament wound composites.” Composite Structures 263: 113686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.113686.
4. Zhao, Y., D. Vandepitte and S. V. Lomov (2021). “The effect of delamination on ring specimen failure in the split-disk test with cohesive zone modelling – Comments on the paper: Zhao Y, Druzhinin P, Ivens J, Vandepitte D, Lomov SV. Split-disk test with 3D Digital Image Correlation strain
   measurement for filament wound composites, Composite Structures, 2021, 263:113686 (doi 10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.113686).” Composite Structures 277: 114517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. compstruct.2021.114617.
5. Niguse Asfew, K., Ivens, J., Moens, D., (2022). “Temperature dependence of thermophysical properties of carbon/polyamide410 composite”. Functional Composite Materials, 3, Art.No. 8. doi: 10.1186/s42252-022-00036-6 Open Access
6. Ypsilantis, K.I., Faes, M., Ivens, J., Lagaros, N., Moens, D. (2022). “An approach for the concurrent homogenization-based microstructure type and topology optimization problem”. Computers & Structures, 272, Art.No. 106859. doi: 10.1016/j.compstruc.2022.106859
7. Malfroy, J., Van Bavel, B., Steelant, J., Vandepitte, D. (2023), “Thin-walled tapered conformable pressurized tanks: Concept and principles”, submitted to Thin-Walled Structures
8. Malfroy, J. (2022) Design and optimization of a tapered multi-bubble tank for hypersonic aircraft, master’s thesis dissertation (supervisors D. Vandepitte and J. Steelant)