Computational Mechanics of Fracture on Advanced

Composite Aerospace Structures

University of Shef eld (/phds/university-of-shef eld/?400n10)

Department of Mechanical Engineering (/phds/department-of-mechanical-
engineering/?c00n1770)

 Dr J L Curiel Sosa
 Applications accepted all year round
 Self-Funded PhD Students Only

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About the Project

Over the last decade there has been a signi cant increase in the use of composite
laminates in the aerospace industry in a drive to reduce weight and as a result to
reduce emissions. Due to the nature of the industry, stringent testing of components
is required. This is an expensive task, requiring a large number of tests to achieve
certi cation, and is complicated further by the nature of anisotropic materials.

The goal of this research is to use nite element methods to develop computational
models which can accurately replicate behaviour to complement physical testing, in
order to reduce the cost and time involved in testing. However, nite element
analyses are very expensive in terms of computational cost if extensive remeshing is
necessary, as in the case of dynamic crack propagation. The relatively new Extended
Finite Element Method (XFEM) solves this problem however, as no remeshing is
necessary.

This PhD aims to investigate, by means of the Extended Finite Element Method
(XFEM), the mechanisms of fracture and crack propagation in advanced composite
structures such as bre metal laminates (FML) used in the aerospace industries.

Funding Notes
1st or 2:1 degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Applied
Mathematics, or other Relevant Discipline.

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