Dr. Xin Liu, Assistant Professor of Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, has been awarded by NASA a Phase 1 Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP). The selected project is for “Multiscale Defect Analysis of Advanced Composites.”
The NASA MUREP Partnership Learning Annual Notification (MPLAN) award aims to support awardees to partner with NASA researchers for training sessions to pursue future NASA opportunities. During the project, Dr. Xin Liu’s team will develop an efficient multiscale model to assess the impacts of defects in tailorable composites, inducing by advanced automated fiber placement (AFP). The proposed model holds the potential to substantially cut down costs related to repair and rework in composites manufacturing. Additionally, this model can be employed in the design optimization of composite structures fabricated by AFP, thus enhancing the application of composite structures in various NASA applications, such as lightweight structures, pressurized habitats, and next-generation airframe technology.
Within UTARI’s Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies (IPPM), the Smart Multiscale Mechanics Lab (SMML), under the leadership of Dr. Xin Liu, has been focusing on the multiscale modeling of composite materials and structures. The team has successfully developed both physics-based and machine learning models to streamline the analysis and design process of advanced materials and structures.
Dr. Endel Iarve, Director, Institute for Predictive Performance Methodologies and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, stated “It is a great achievement, which, I believe, is only the beginning.”