Designing advanced structures through novel, lightweight materials such as metals, composites and biomaterials, is one of the key enabling technologies to achieve national targets for CO2 reduction.

In reducing inherent structural weight, it is essential not to compromise safety, as structural integrity and designing for crashworthiness become key design drivers and represents a significant proportion of product development costs.

Key challenges include understanding how a structure, or material performs over its life cycle when subject to a range of static and dynamic (high strain rate) loading, including crash, ballistic impact, bird strike or explosion.

This requires expertise in numerical simulation, rate dependent material behaviour (include damage and failure) and testing. We have a strong, applied understanding and proven track record in the following areas:

  • Component/sub structure/full-scale testing and simulation;
  • Coupon level material characterisation and simulation;
  • Finite element analysis and meshless methods;
  • Material model development (including plasticity/damage);
  • Modelling structures under extreme loading;
  • Numerical methods development and application;
  • Structural analysis and optimisation.

Sustainability and low carbon footprint are some of the other driving forces leading to lightweighting technologies. We are actively involved in developing bio-sourced composite technologies for the next generation light weight structural components.

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