es-ESen-US
DigArticle - Article View :::



23 / jul. / 2018

FIDAMC at the European Conference on Composite Materials ECCM18


FIDAMC at the European Conference on Composite Materials ECCM18


From June 25th to 28th, Athens (Greece) held the European Conference on Composite Materials ECCM18, which is considered the biggest Congress on the field of the composite materials in Europe and the second one in the world. Due to its high importance in the context of this kind of materials, the participation of FIDAMC in its several conferences was remarkable, with presenters such as the doctorate students Sergio Saenz-Castillo and Sergio de Juan, the PhD doctors María Rodríguez Gude and Juan Manuel González-Cantero, as well as our expert in thermoplastic composite materials, Fernando Rodríguez Lence.

In the session “Materials science: graphene – graphene-based composites”, María Rodríguez Gude presented the work done by Fidamc in the frame of the European project Graphene Flagship (H2020-Adhoc-2014-20 Grant Agreement 696656 and SGA-FET-GRAPHENE-2017 Grant Agreement 785219). In the presentation “Characterization of multifunctional composites obtained from carbon fiber/epoxy prepregs containing graphene related materials”, María showed the results obtained in the physical-chemical and mechanical characterization of laminates manufactured from four different kinds of prepreg, which one of them without doping and the other three laminated with different kinds of graphenic materials in the epoxy matrix. Moreover, the presentation included the manufacturing process of an aeronautical demonstrator using the two kind of doped prepregs with the best properties, where the good integration between both materials and the feasibility to be incorporated in the nowadays manufacturing processes of the aeronautical industry was demonstrated.

In the session “Processing and Manufacturing Technologies: Manufacturing Processes for Thermoplastic Composites”, Fernando Rodríguez Lence presented “In-situ consolidation of Integrated Thermoplastic Fuselage Panels: The Future in Structural  Commercial Aerocomposites”, where he showed the works done in FIDAMC in order to demonstrate that thermoplastic composites may be manufactured in an automatized way without the necessity of any post-consolidation stage in autoclave/oven, and the total integration of structures by the co-consolidation method melting skin and stiffeners together in only one melting step. The evolution of the fibres positioning equipment with single layer heating through diode laser from the machine was revised, together with the demonstrators manufactured since 2011 and finishing with the demonstrator of a typical integrated structure of a fuselage and the PEEK, PEKK and LM PAEK polymers tests with the aforementioned technology.

Diego Saenz-Castillo ECCM18’s oral presentation titled “Impact of processing parameters on void content and mechanical properties of CF/PEEK thermoplastic composites” is framed within his PhD studies which embrace the characterization of thermoplastic manufacturing processes. In his presentation, Diego explained how thermoplastic composite materials have evolved during the last decades and how they are about to be implemented in aircraft primary structures led by innovative and automated manufacturing processes under development. The presentation focused on the impact of manufacturing parameters on key material properties, such as inter-laminar shear and void content.

Within the session of ECCM18 called “Materials science: fire and lightning strike” which took place on Monday June the 25th, Sergio de Juan showed the works carried out so far in regard of metallic coatings via chemical deposition for composite materials, with the title “Chemical deposition of copper as a novel solution for lightning strike protection of carbon fibre reinforced polymer parts”. The results obtained after characterization of coatings and its potential applicability for lightning strike protection were described during the conference, since this application is of great concern for aeronautic components manufacturers.

Within the session “Applications: aerospace”, with the title of “PLATFORM: Study of the integration and characterization of new materials manufactured with carbon nanotubes in current manufacturing processes in the aeronautical sector”, María Rodríguez Gude presented together to Idoia Gaztelumendi, from Tecnalia, the main achievements obtained in the European project PLATFORM (H2020-NMP-1-2014 PLATFORM Grant Agreement 646307). On the first hand, they explained the capacities of the three pilot plants started thanks to the project (manufacturing of buckypapers, manufacturing of doped veils and treatment of prepreg doped with carbon nanotubes). On the second hand, they presented the main results obtained in composite laminates with integrated carbon nanotubes using the three aforementioned technologies, focused mainly to the improvement of the electrical conductivity and the compressive strength after impact.

Finally, in the session “Material and structural behaviour – Simulation and Testing: Delamination”, Juan Manuel González-Cantero presented his work titled “Failure Mechanisms Involved in the Unfolding Failure”. The presentation included the last results obtained in his PhD Thesis, presenting a different way of understanding the delamination failure of composite laminates including a high curvature through a different failure mechanism. This mechanism explains the nowadays problem where interlaminar tensile strength depends on the thickness, with lower strengths in thinner specimens. This presentation shows a summary of the paper published by the author in the scientific journal “Composites Science and Technology”.

In brief, FIDAMC had a substantial presence in the ECCM18 conference, proof of its important involvement in the research and development of the composite materials, with high technological and conceptual level presentations.



María Rodríguez Gude at ECCM18  Juan Manuel González-Cantero at ECCM18 


123movies