Sustainable behavior change towards short-haul flights for business trips: Applying the Fogg Behavior Model to determine how to change the mindset towards flying for business with the aim to reduce the impact of flying

Companies let their employees take short-haul flights for business trips while there are alternative, more sustainable, modes of transport. Understanding the motivation of the company and their employees for flying is essential to create a design solution which could change their behavior. To reach the goal of a maximum global temperature rise...

Repairing impacted thermoplastic composites using ultrasonic welding to restore the compressive strength

This research project investigates the potential use of ultrasonic welding as a tool to repair impact damage inside thermoplastic composites to restore the compressive strength. Compared to the already existing method, hot-pressing, ultrasonic welding could offer faster processing times, no need for dedicated tooling, smaller and lighter...

Design for repurposing of composite products

With the emerging demand for energy-efficient products, the composite material has become a point of attraction for many product manufacturers. Furthermore, with its high strength to weight ratio, long life span, low maintenance and design flexibility, composite materials offer tailored properties by choosing an appropriate combination of...

Design of a Scalable Automated Manufacturing Method for Composite Iso-truss Structures

The IsoTruss is an interesting continuous fibre reinforced polymer composite design which is closely related to open lattice composite structures, although it is currently aimed mostly at civil applications. While it currently lacks applicability to the aerospace sector, its production process is easier to automate (or change the shape input...

Additive manufacturing of a self-healing thermoplastic polyurethane

Additive manufacturing of smart polymers is a rapidly growing field. Additive manufacturing presents a versatile, low-waste manufacturing method for functional materials. Self-healing polymers are a type of smart polymers that are able to mend damage, either by the incorporation of an encapsulated healing agent or by intrinsic polymer design....

Enhancing the mechanical properties of fused filament fabricated parts by elevating the print room temperature

Additive manufacturing (AM) is currently making a transition from mainly being used for prototyping to an alternative for conventional production methods. AM provides more freedom in design geometry combined with the possibility to produce (complex) products in low quantities. As a result, the need arises for printed parts with consistent...

Effects of Thermal Degradation on Carbon Reinforced PEEK Composites

The application of fibre reinforced thermoplastic composites in aerospace industry has increased drastically in the last decade. Carbon fibre/Polyether-ether-ketone (C/PEEK) is one of the high-performance thermoplastic composites and is replacing metallic and thermosetting counterparts in various aircrafts components. Parts made from such...