Reliability of fibre-reinforced composites: materials design and variability

Reliability is a vital concern in the composite industry, as most composite structures are designed not to fail under any circumstance. It is therefore vital to design parts close to the actual material performance. An alternative is to design the microstructure to better cope with the expected stress concentrations and loads or to exhibit a gradual or ductile failure behaviour, which will help to avoid complete dislodging of the part.

The SBO project RELFICOM aims to achieve a breakthrough in the reliability of fibre- reinforced composites, through improved material design and through better understanding and controlling variability. This will lead to reductions in safety factors, and hence lighter and safer composite structures. RELFICOM also aims to improve the recyclability of composites by using/developing microtow filaments based on recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

RELFICOM aims at improving the reliability of fibre-reinforced composites via two strategies:

(1) improved material design and

(2) developing a better understanding and quantification of variability and its effect on performance.