Improving the quality of carbon fibre parts
The University of Bath has been awarded a Short KTP (sKTP) with GKN, the global engineering group.
The partnership will further develop unique knowledge of composite manufacturing processes within a mathematical framework for layered systems.
The KTP Associate, Dr Tim Dodwell from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will work closely with GKN at the UK’s National Composites Centre (NCC) to develop models in an intuitive format for designers and manufacturing staff who are to use the software.
The sKTP, being led by Dr Richard Butler also from Mechanical Engineering, will implement these predictive models for larger scale complex 3D parts, using modern multilevel numerical methods.
In particular, the transfer of knowledge will concern the wrinkle formation during the manufacture of carbon fibre parts, encouraging new methodologies to minimize wrinkles in parts.
The aim is to create an in-house tool which will flag up designs that are susceptible to wrinkle defect formation. These designs may then be excluded at an early stage in the development processes before expensive manufacturing tests are carried out. This work will be extended to developing a design strategy or design strategies which have a low likelihood of generating this type of defect.
Following this, the production of a manual, training course and report of findings will be embedded within GKN.
Further information
For further information on Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) please contact:
Clive Bailey
Business Development Manager
Email: C.Bailey@bath.ac.uk