| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R76561/01 |
| Title: |
Structurally Efficient Design Incorporating Material Anisotropy |
| Principal Investigator: |
Weaver, Professor PM |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Aerospace Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Bristol |
| Scheme: |
Advanced Fellowship (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 October 2002 |
Ends: |
30 September 2007 |
Value (£): |
255,798
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Civil Engineering Materials |
Wind Power |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Aerospace, Defence and Marine |
Construction |
| Energy |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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23 Nov 2001
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Engineering Fellowships Panel (2002)
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Deferred
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Composite laminated materials have widespread use in structural applications due to excellent ratios of in-plane strength and stiffness per unit weight. The vast majority of these applications preclude anisotropic material behaviour, partly due to complex modelling issues. This is unfortunate because many of the added design freedoms given to the designer, in terms of novel structural response from anisotropic properties, are not exploited. This proposer wants to rectify the latter situation by providing designers and decision makers with clear and concise modelling tools that empower such people to make informed design decisions, taking advantage of anisotropic effects. The result is potentially lighter, cheaper structural components that have application in the next generation of reusable launch vehicle (space shuttle), future large passenger aircraft, helicopters, rotor blades and wind turbine blades. In everyday use, this could mean more fuel efficient cars (lightweight bodies), more efficient sports equipment and biomedical applications that utilise anisotropic material response.The most efficient structures resist applied loading by developing tensile and compressive membrane stresses. Therefore, compressive behaviour is crucial in lightweight structures, and so the emphasis will be placed on linear bifurcation and postbuckling analyses using approximate, simplified displacement fields to produce closed form solutions. The solutions are approximate because although the governing differential equations are satisfied, some of the boundary conditions will be violated. The consequence of this will be assessed by comparison with finite element analyses. Once these closed form solutions are formed, appropriate design charts will be constructed that facilitate selection procedures. These charts will be formed from non-dimensional parameters (where possible) that are the coefficients of the governing differential equations.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.bris.ac.uk |