High-value composites processing technique using manufacturing waste
High-value composites processing technique using manufacturing waste
Research Group Activity
| Sustainable composites manufacturing, automotive structural composites, high-volume composites manufacturing. The Automotive Composites Research Centre (ACRC) where the student will be based has very good gender balance and race diversity, which creates a very positive environment to inspire future engineers from under-represented groups to pursue a career in engineering. |
Project Description
| In the automotive industry, composites manufacturing using prepreg typically generates 30%-50% of manufacturing waste from trim waste and roll ends, which usually ends up in landfill, creating environmental pressure and substantial costs. One highly-attractive solution to reuse the waste material is to chop the scrap prepreg into uniform rectangular or square chip form, and compression mould in a moulding compound form. Such reprocessing strategy offers similar advantages conventional moulding compounds (e.g., SMC), such as low manufacturing wastage, potential for high-volume applications, and the capabilities of manufacturing complicated geometry. It also offers great design flexibility as the chip dimensions and the fibre orientation within the chips can all be changed independently to optimise the flow behaviour and the mechanical properties. This internship will support the research on the manufacturing and flow characterisation of compression moulding compound manufactured from reclaimed prepreg waste. The candidate is expected to produce different compression moulding compounds consisting of various chip dimensions and fibre orientations using an automated cutting table and a hot press. The candidate will also perform simple flow characterisations for each moulding compound using a bespoke squeeze flow rig to understand how the chip parameters affect the flow behaviour of the moulding compound. All experimental facilities are located at the Automotive Composites Research Centre at WMG, University of Warwick. This project provides a very good opportunity to establish a background in sustainable composites manufacturing, as well as strong link to the automotive industry. The student will also gain hands-on experience using state-of-the-art industrial scale composites manufacturing facilities and some fundamental knowledge in compression moulding process characterisation. This project will enable the research team to demonstrate the feasibility of applying their existing expertise in manufacturing of discontinuous fibre composites in sustainable composites manufacturing. The success in this project, along with their existing strong academic background and industrial links are highly likely to result in high-quality journal publications and larger-scale research grand proposals. |
Student Level
Open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students
Location
This project requires attendance at a lab or office on campus.
Skills you can learn from this project
| Composites manufacturing, circular economy, flow characterisation, compression moulding, automation. |
Required Skills
| Some practical skills is desirable but not essential. |
If you wish to apply for this project, fill in the form below including uploading your CV and personal statement, explaining why you want to do this particular internship project. Attachments must be in PDF format.
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