IUCRC Phase I: Oakland University: Center for Composite and Hybrid Materials Interfacing (CHMI)

The Center for Composite and Hybrid Materials Interfacing (CHMI) seeks to generate knowledge and capabilities in joining, bonding, and maintenance of composite and hybrid material structures by applying reliable, data-driven, automated processes using advanced analytical, computational, experimental, and digital techniques and tools. It is a partnership between Oakland University (OU), Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) and University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK).

The significant advantages of lightweight composite and hybrid materials for aerospace, automotive, infrastructure, and biomedical applications come with scientific, technical, and economic challenges that must be addressed for the U.S. to be a global manufacturing leader. The interfaces in these materials systems are identified as a critical barrier due to fabrication costs and inconsistent performance (especially in aggressive environments).

The goal of CHMI is to significantly reduce cost (≥50%), cycle time, and variation of such engineering operations in ten years. The OU Site is home to state-of-the-art facilities and expert researchers at its Fastening and Joining Research Institute (FAJRI), which includes a wide range of equipment in its composite joining labs, material properties and manufacturing processing lab, and chemistry labs.

The OU faculty have diverse expertise that spans material joining, nondestructive testing, material characterization, artificial intelligence, modeling/simulation, data analytics, advance manufacturing, and validation testing.

The three partnering universities have well-established, complementary expertise in lightweight composite and hybrid materials. They will work together on four industry-inspired research thrust areas: (1) Design, Modeling and Analysis, (2) Materials and Process Engineering, (3) Testing and NDE, and (4) Secure Data and Digital Technologies. Each university has emphasized different industry sectors (GT-Aerospace, OU-Automotive/Ground Vehicle, UTK-Infrastructure and Biomedical), which ensures the inclusion of university and industry perspectives across a wide range of U.S. manufacturing.

The CHMI IUCRC will develop a Convergent Research Development Environment that will identify and conduct industry-inspired pre-competitive, innovative research in the area of interfacing composites and hybrid materials. The OU Site will focus on computation and design, processing/fabrication, characterization and testing, non-destructive evaluation (NDE), and data analytics.

Specifically, research efforts will include: electromagnetic-sensitive additives for reversible adhesion of hybrid material joints, volatile organic compound failure analysis of autoclave-bonded panels, modeling of predictive emission for adhesive hybrid material joints, machine learning and knowledge-based models for threaded composite and hybrid material joint systems, NDE methods using experimental and computational digital shearography for composite and hybrid materials interfaces, and the development of other breakthrough technologies that drive industry to mitigate risk and improve efficiency.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.