Composites Research Unit
The Bath Composites Research Unit (CRU) investigates the mechanical behaviour of composite materials and lightweight structures and exploits this understanding for use in design and manufacture.
Our people
Industry links
The CRU has close regional links with the aerospace industry: GKN Aerospace, Airbus, Agusta-Westland and Rolls-Royce, and with the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) at the University of Bristol.
Expertise
- Manufacture and test
- Topological optimisation and stiffened panel sizing
- Damage tolerance
- Optimised laminates and fibre placement
- Buckling, post-buckling and kink banding
- Aeroelastic tailoring
- Morphology and detection of impact damage and manufacturing defects
- Fatigue and compressive strength of damaged composites
- Natural materials and biomimetics
- Smart materials
- Shape control and morphing
- NDE and Structural Health Monitoring Impact and crashworthiness
- Modelling and simulation of non-linear transient phenomena
- Manufacturing process modelling - waviness, folding, wrinkling, consolidation.
Latest
Professor Chris Bowen's inaugural lecture: Active Structures, Devices and Materials - Listen again >>
Follow Dr Alicia Kim's during her time on sabbatical at NASA - Read Alicia's blog >>
Further details
| Title | Researchers | Supervisors | Collaborators and sponsors |
| Aerostructural efficiency of damage tolerant composites via optimised fibre placement | Dr Wenli Liu and Dr Andrew Rhead | Professor Richard Butler, Professor Giles Hunt and Dr Alicia Kim | University of Bristol, ESPRC Airbus, GKN |
| Adapted tectonic models for wrinkling in carbon fibre composites | Tim Dodwell | Professor Richard Butler and Professor Giles Hunt | ESPRC and GKN |
| Techniques for optimisation and analysis of composites for damage tolerance and buckling stiffness | Neil Baker | Professor Richard Butler | |
| Composite-metal joining using hybrid penetrative reinforcement (HYPER) | Phil Parkes | Professor Richard Butler and Professor Darryl Almond | EADS Innovation Works |
| Functionally sorted laminated material for damage resistance and damage tolerance | Shi Hua | Professor Richard Butler and Dr Michele Meo | Agusta Westland and Rolls-Royce |
| Damage monitoring of impacted self-healing CFRP composite laminates | Dr Michele Meo | Airbus | |
| Developing innovative laminate tubing structures for use within perislatic pumps | Dr Michele Meo | Watson-Marlow Ltd | |
| Damage tolerance and multi-scale simulation of novel 3D composite materials | Dr Michele Meo | QinetiQ |
- Structural modelling software: ABAQUS / VICONOPT / ANSYS
- 10-2000 kN fatigue & static testing machines
- 3 x 1.5m Airbus autoclave (100psi; 250°C)
- Clean room and hot presses
- Tool machining workshop
- Cutting and polishing equipment
- Multi - channel modal analyser
- Limess VIC3D High Speed Digital Image Correlation system
- Limess Real Time Strain Sensing system (RTSS)
- ISI-SYS shearography system
- Ultrasonic Sciences C-scan system (2.5 x 1.2m scan area)
- 4 thermographic inspection systems
- Acoustography.
- Materials Research Centre
- Centre for Nonlinear Mechanics
- IdMRC
- Biomimetic and Natural Technologies
- (BRE-CICM) Centre for Innovative Construction Materials
- UK Research Centre in Nondestructive Evaluation.
