Specialists from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) have created a computer model of composite materials with a fibrous structure. The development will allow finding and eliminating defects in composites. This was reported by the press service of the university.
The structure of composite materials consists of polymers and fibers that have a wavy shape. To simplify calculations when modeling the destruction of a fiber bundle, they were given a straight shape.
We managed to take into account in the model that the fibers are not necessarily parallel to each other: they can be multidirectional, they can be intertwined. All this affects the accuracy of calculations and the assessment of the strength of materials.
The new computer model takes into account the incorrect orientation of the fibers inside the composite and their shape. This allows you to calculate changes in the mechanical properties of composite materials when fibers break. In the future, the data is used to assess the condition of aircraft parts and other products made of fibrous composites during diagnostics.
Our achievement is that for the first time we were able to model destruction in a fiber bundle with a realistic fiber shape. When there is a model, you can develop various practical approaches to solving the problem of detecting defects.
The improved computer model is based on a version of the fibrous composite model developed in Belgium in 2021. Previous developments made it possible to select shapes of the required size to eliminate cracks inside composite fibers. The new model makes it possible to calculate the properties of other types of mechanical damage in the structure of the material.
Earlier www1.ru reported that a new catalyst based on boron and tungsten was developed in Russia.