Lab Capabilities
Activities
The advanced composites laboratory counts with different instruments that allow the fabrication of materials such as:
- Nanostructured composites using nanographene, multiwall carbon nanotubes, nanosilica, nanoalumina, nanoclay, and zirconia.
- Fiber-reinforced polymer composites using carbon, glass, aramid, natural fibers, and hybrid.
- Sustainable composites using eco-friendly processes and renewable fibers and polymeric matrixes, such as ragweed and PLA.
- Thermoplastics composites with magnetic properties.
- Thermosets composites with ablative properties.
- Dispersion of nanoparticles in liquid polymer resin using sonication, high shear mixing, stand mixing, and planetary centrifugal mixing.
Manufacturing
- Injection molding
- Compression molding
- Single-screw extrusion
- Twin-screw Extrusion
- Fused filament fabrication
- Vacuum resin transfer molding
- Hand layup
- Prepreg
Characterization
- Static mechanical testing: tension; compression; shear; flexure; interlaminar shear; and fracture
- Cyclic fatigue tests up to 100 Hz frequency
- Low-velocity drop impact and Izod impact tests
- Hardness testing: Brinnell/Rockwell/Barcol
- Thermal: coefficient of thermal expansion, glass transition temperature, heat deflection temperature
- Optical microscopy
- Ablative properties using ‘Oxyacetelene Test Bed (OTB)' facility
- Viscosity measurement
- Thermal imaging
- Electrical resistivity