Kinetic viscoelasticity modeling applied to degradation during carbon–carbon composite processing

Kinetic viscoelasticity modeling has been successfully utilized to describe phenomena during cure of thermoset based carbon fiber reinforced matrices. The basic difference from classic viscoelasticity is that the fundamental material descriptors change as a result of reaction kinetics. Accordingly, we can apply the same concept for different kinetic phenomena with simultaneous curing and degradation. The application of this concept can easily be utilized in processing and manufacturing of carbon–carbon composites, where phenolic resin matrices are cured degraded and reinfused in a carbon fiber bed. This work provides a major step towards understanding complex viscoelastic phenomena that go beyond simple thermomechanical descriptors.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (Joint U.S.-Greece Program

Religious Tourism in Greece and Cyprus: Re-Cult and Re-Cult Magnum Projects

Religious tourism is customarily defined as travel for religious purposes and is considered a form of cultural tourism. Recent market research suggests that the number of religious travellers is steadily growing while emerging trends among travellers are the search for authenticity and the diversification of travel experiences by pursuing unusual ways to explore religion. These trends lie at the heart of Re-Cult and Re-Cult Magnum projects implemented under the cooperation programme Interreg V-A Greece-Cyprus. The projects are dedicated to the digitisation of Cultural Heritage and the development of innovative products for religious travellers that integrate ICTs to augment the travellers’ experience. Specifically, the projects use cutting edge digitisation methods (3D scanning, UAV photography, 4K videography, photogrammetry) to digitise both tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets. The assets and associated metadata are stored in a custom-built resources management system and are subsequently conveyed to a host of solutions that enhance the religious traveller’s experience before, during and after the visit. These include a dedicated website with certified pilot religious routes providing all necessary information for planning a visit, a digital museum website allowing virtual tours and the viewing of select monuments and relics in 3D that functions both as an edutainment and a promotional tool incentivising physical visits; a set of mobile apps that provide additional information and 2D/3D imagery for artefacts and monuments during the visit, in-museum augmented reality guided experiences using cutting edge headsets, and on-site info kiosks and holograms that highlight interesting, unusual or unique elements in religious routes. It is hoped that our efforts will significantly enhance the quality of the religious tourism products in Greece and Cyprus and augment the travellers’ physical visit experience in the upcoming, post-pandemic tourist season

Assessing the performance of electrospun nanofabrics as potential interlayer reinforcement materials for fiber-reinforced polymers

Multiscale-reinforced polymers offer enhanced functionality due to the three different scales that are incorporated; microfiber, nanofiber, and nanoparticle. This work aims to investigate the applicability of different polymer-based nanofabrics, fabricated via electrospinning as reinforcement interlayers for multilayer-fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Three different polymers are examined; polyamide 6, polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinylidene fluoride, both plain and doped with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The effect of nanotube concentration on the properties of the resulting nanofabrics is also examined. Nine different nanofabric systems are prepared. The stress–strain behavior of the different nanofabric systems, which are eventually used as reinforcement interlayers, is investigated to assess the enhancement of the mechanical properties and to evaluate their potential as interlayer reinforcements. Scanning electron microscopy is employed to visualize the morphology and microstructure of the electrospun nanofabrics. The thermal behavior of the nanofabrics is investigated via differential scanning calorimetry to elucidate the glass and melting point of the nanofabrics, which can be used to identify optimum processing parameters at composite level. Introduction of MWCNTs appears to augment the mechanical response of the polymer nanofabrics. Examination of the mechanical performance of these interlayer reinforcements after heat treatment above the glass transition temperature reveals that morphological and microstructural changes can promote further enhancement of the mechanical response

Religious Tourism in Greece and Cyprus: Re-Cult and Re-Cult Magnum Projects

Religious tourism is customarily defined as travel for religious purposes and is considered a form of cultural tourism. Recent market research suggests that the number of religious travellers is steadily growing while emerging trends among travellers are the search for authenticity and the diversification of travel experiences by pursuing unusual ways to explore religion. These trends lie at the heart of Re-Cult and Re-Cult Magnum projects implemented under the cooperation programme Interreg V-A Greece-Cyprus. The projects are dedicated to the digitisation of Cultural Heritage and the development of innovative products for religious travellers that integrate ICTs to augment the travellers’ experience. Specifically, the projects use cutting edge digitisation methods (3D scanning, UAV photography, 4K videography, photogrammetry) to digitise both tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets. The assets and associated metadata are stored in a custom-built resources management system and are subsequently conveyed to a host of solutions that enhance the religious traveller’s experience before, during and after the visit. These include a dedicated website with certified pilot religious routes providing all necessary information for planning a visit, a digital museum website allowing virtual tours and the viewing of select monuments and relics in 3D that functions both as an edutainment and a promotional tool incentivising physical visits; a set of mobile apps that provide additional information and 2D/3D imagery for artefacts and monuments during the visit, in-museum augmented reality guided experiences using cutting edge headsets, and on-site info kiosks and holograms that highlight interesting, unusual or unique elements in religious routes. It is hoped that our efforts will significantly enhance the quality of the religious tourism products in Greece and Cyprus and augment the travellers’ physical visit experience in the upcoming, post-pandemic tourist season

Evaluation of a thermal consolidation process for the production of enhanced technical fabrics

Fiber reinforced composites are increasingly used in high value applications. A novel technology (NanoWeld® ) enhancing the structural integrity of the interlayer has demonstrated promising results; however, manufacturing issues related to scalability need to be overcome. The developed technology relies on consolidating thermoplastic nanofiber nonwoven veils onto technical dry fabrics through roll-to-roll ultrasonic welding. The enhanced technical dry fabrics can be further processed as any other technical fabrics for the composites industry. An alternative solution for consolidation is proposed here, based on a thermo-compressive approach to address the scala-bility issue. A finite element model has been employed to simulate the operating conditions and provide information for optimization of the process. Its results demonstrate that consolidation is achieved rapidly, indicating that the production rate could be accelerated. The quality of enhanced technical dry fabrics produced using the proposed consolidation assembly has been evaluated using scanning electron microscopy as well as mechanical testing of fiber reinforced composites. The mechanical response of such manufactured composites has been compared against benchmark Nan-oWeld® composites, demonstrating superior performance