Colliding, Computing, and Composites

Speaker: Dr. Eric Jankowski

Director, Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering

Next-generation aircraft will be made with composite materials that can be welded together, but doing so requires a detailed understanding of how the structure of welded thermoplastic interfaces depends on their constituents and processing. Here we describe computational advancements led by our team that have enabled validated models of aerospace thermoplastics to be developed and applied. We focus on poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) and poly(ether ketone ketone) as case study chemistries and detail the coarse-grained representation challenges that must be overcome to predict experimentally-relevant morphologies. We also take some time to discuss the educational efforts in computing curriculum design and personal storytelling research with The Story Collider that underpins empowering engineers in domains they are hesitant to claim expertise in.