Electrical and mechanical behaviour of copper tufted CFRP composite joints

Electrical continuity of dissimilar joints controls the current and thermal pathways during lightning strike. Tufting using carbon, glass or Kevlar fibres is a primary to introduce through thickness reinforcement for composite structures and assemblies. Replacing the conventional tuft thread material with metallic conductive wire presents an opportunity for enhancing current dissipation and deal with electrical bottlenecks across dissimilar joints. Simulation of the electro-thermo-mechanical behaviour of joints was carried out to assess the influence of metallic tufting. The finite element solver MSC.Marc was utilised. Mechanical models incorporate continuum damage mechanics (CDM) to capture progressive damage in both composite and aluminium components of the joint. The mechanical models were coupled with electrical and thermal simulations of reference and copper tufted carbon fibre epoxy composite joints to assess both the lightning strike response and mechanical robustness of the assembly as well as the improvements offered by tufting. Validation of the model is based on electrical conduction and temperature measurements alongside delamination tests.European Union funding: 88704

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals by Vetiver Plant Species in Unconventional Water

The use of natural processes, including the physiological potential of plants, is a suitable solution. In this study in order to assess the effect of waste leachate and industrial wastewater on the absorption of heavy metals by the Vetiver plant, two separate factorial experiments were performed in the crop year 2020-2021 as a completely randomized design. Experiment treatments factors included waste leachate and industrial wastewater use separately on 5 levels (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) in three replications (B1, B2, B3) and two irrigation periods of 5 and 10 days (A5, A10). The amount of iron, zinc, copper, manganese, potassium, and sodium measured in vetiver showed waste leachate had a significant effect at the level of 5% (P 0.05). R4A1 and W5A1 treatments showed a relatively good response with a decrease in biomass production below 10% compared to the control treatment. According to the results, the Vetiver species has relatively high compatibility in the absorption of heavy metals with unconventional waters and can have a special application for soil and water protection

Manufacture of a rotor blade pitch horn using binder yarn fabrics

The use of binder yarn fabrics in rotor blade applications is investigated in this work. A preforming procedure is incorporated in manufacturing, resulting in higher degree of automation and a reduction of process steps. The performance of the process is evaluated with respect to cost savings compared to prepregging technologies