AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Abstract

The development of multifunctional composite materials has attracted significant attention due to their unique beneficial capabilities, such as autonomous shape recovery and integrated stress/strain sensing. In this seminar, the speaker will first present their recent work on the fabrication, characterization, and testing of self-deployable and highly flexible shape memory composites for aerospace applications. Shape memory composites consisting of epoxy resin and carbon fiber fabrics are integrated and can be used to design highly compacted origami structures. The joule heating method has been employed to deploy such shape memory composites. The second part of the seminar will focus on carbon nanofiber reinforced nanocomposite pressure and strain sensors for real-time load monitoring. Piezoresistance based sensing signal is correlated to external pressure and strain as the key sensing feature. The developed nanocomposite sensors can be 3D printed and used for the load and deformation sensing of highly flexible composite structures.

Speaker

Dr. Yingtao Liu

Assistant Professor in the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma. Before joining OU, he was an assistant research scientist in the AIMS Center at Arizona State University from 2012 to 2014. His research expertise includes the development and application of nanocomposites and smart structures, non-destructive evaluation, structural health monitoring, and prognostics. He has published 60 technical papers and book chapters and served as a reviewer for more than 20 technical journals.