Publications related to Assessing the life cycle costs and environmental performance of lightweight materials in automobile applications

Self-catalysed frontal polymerisation enables fast and low-energy processing of fibre reinforced polymer composites

Véronique Michaud, Baris Çaglar, Jacobus Gerardus Rudolph Staal

Frontal polymerisation has the potential to bring unprecedented reductions in energy demand and process time to produce fibre reinforced polymer composites. Production of epoxy-based fibre reinforced polymer parts with high fibre volume content, commonly e ...

2024

On the influence of flow-front orientation on stringer stiffened composite panels in water impacts

Véronique Michaud

Water impacts form the critical load case for high-performance carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) racing craft. Such events produce a peaked, non-uniform pressure distribution that travels along a hull panel as it is immersed. Current design standards ...

2024

Highly anisotropic carbon fiber electrodes for DEAs and their dynamic non-monotonic conductive properties

Yves Perriard, Stefania Maria Aliki Konstantinidi, Markus Koenigsdorff

A common method for creating compliant electrodes for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) and soft sensors is to incorporate electrically conductive carbon particles into a polymer matrix. However, using unidirectional aligned carbon fibers instead not o ...

Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)2024

Multiscale Spatiotemporal Characterization of Embodied Environmental Performance of Building Structures in Geneva from 1850 to 2018

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Catherine Elvire L. De Wolf, Serena Vanbutsele

Load-bearing systems in buildings, significant in material use and embodied greenhouse gas emissions (EGHGE), have lacked detailed analysis on their environmental and functional relationships over time and space. This study evaluates the environmental impa ...

2024

Two-dimensional quasi-static delamination in composite laminates under Mode-I and Mode-II conditions

Congzhe Wang

Fiber-polymer composites consist of a polymer matrix and reinforcing fibers made of various materials. These composites exhibit exceptional properties, such as a high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance, which has led to their incre ...

EPFL2024

Shear and steel-fibre reinforcement for the punching resistance of flat slabs at internal and edge columns

Diego Hernández Fraile

Reinforced concrete flat slabs consist of a continuous, thin concrete plate that rests on a grid of columns. The supporting surface of the columns is very small compared to the floor plan dimensions, leading to concentrations of shear forces near the colum ...

EPFL2024

Reusability assessment of reinforced concrete components prior to deconstruction from obsolete buildings

Maléna Bastien Masse, Julie Rachel Devènes, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet

A large part of building demolitions is motivated by purely socio-economic reasons. Hence, about-to-be-demolished structures, commonly made of reinforced concrete, very often present no or little degradation. When adaptive reuse of the entire building is n ...

2024

Additive Manufacturing of Bioinspired Mineral-Based Composites

Ran Zhao

Biominerals are used by natural organisms for example as structural supports and optical sensors. They are produced from a limited number of elements and under ambient conditions. Nevertheless, they often possess excellent mechanical properties and sometim ...

EPFL2024

The microbial genomics of glacier-fed streams: adaptations to an extreme ecosystem

Massimo Bourquin

Glacier-fed streams are the cold, ultra-oligotrophic, and unstable streams that are fed by glacial meltwater. Despite these extreme conditions, they harbour a diverse and abundant microbial diversity that develops into biofilms, covering the boulders and s ...

EPFL2024

The synergistic interplay of artificial intelligence and digital twin in environmentally planning sustainable smart cities: A comprehensive systematic review

Jeffrey Huang, Simon Elias Bibri

The dynamic landscape of sustainable smart cities is witnessing a signi ficant transformation due to the integration of emerging computational technologies and innovative models. These advancements are reshaping data -driven planning strategies, practices, ...

Elsevier2024

Continuous Supercritical Water Impregnation Method for the Preparation of Metal Oxide on Activated Carbon Composite Materials

Christian Ludwig

Metal oxide (MexOy) nanomaterials are used as catalysts and/or sorbents in processes taking place in supercritical water (scH2O), which is the “green” solvent needed to obtain energy-relevant products. Their properties are significantly influenced by the s ...

2024

CO2 Capture and Management Strategies for Decarbonizing Secondary Aluminium Production

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos, Réginald Germanier

The production of aluminium largely depends on the use of fossil fuels, resulting in the emission of significant amounts of greenhouse gases. As the aluminium industry is working towards decreasing its environmental burdens, the elimination of direct emiss ...

2024

Experimental characterization and stochastic models for time-dependent rupture of thin-ply composite laminates

Thin-laminate composites with thicknesses below 200 mu m hold significant promise for future, larger, and lighter deployable structures. This paper presents a study of the time-dependent failure behavior of thin carbon-fiber laminates under bending, focusi ...

2024

Numerical investigation of two-dimensional Mode-II delamination in composite laminates

Thomas Keller, Anastasios Vassilopoulos, Congzhe Wang

Existing standards for delamination tests on composite materials typically employ one-dimensional (1D) beam specimens. However, such specimens may not represent real delamination scenarios in composite structures, where cracks tend to propagate in two dime ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Process development of pre-impregnated hybrid thin-ply composites

Alexios Argyropoulos

Thin-ply composites, obtained with recently developed fiber spreading techniques, rapidly gained industrial interest because they offer a large composite design freedom, and lead to a composite tensile strength that is close to that of the individual fiber ...

EPFL2023

Multi-scale characterization and modeling of notched strength and translaminar fracture in hybrid thin-ply composites based on different carbon fiber grades

Guillaume Clément Broggi

Owing to their high specific stiffness and strength, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composites (CFRP) are ideal candidates for the development of lightweight high-performance structures. Within this family, thin-ply composites allow for wider design freedom and p ...

EPFL2023

Strategies for energy-efficient frontal polymerisation processing and microstructural evaluation of fibre reinforced composites

Jacobus Gerardus Rudolph Staal

Liquid composite moulding methods are widely applied for manufacturing of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and consist of two main stages: impregnation of fibrous reinforcements by a liquid monomer resin and curing of this resin. This thesis work ...

EPFL2023

The Development of Aptamer-Coupled Microelectrode Fiber Sensors (apta-?FS) for Highly Selective Neurochemical Sensing

Fabien Sorin

The selective and sensitive sensing of neurochemicals is essential to decipher in-brain chemistry underlying brain pathophysiology. The recent development of flexible and multifunctional polymer-based fibers has been shown useful in recording and modulatin ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

Incorporation of Lignin in Bio-Based Resins for Potential Application in Fiber-Polymer Composites

Mário Alexandre De Jesus Garrido, Mateus De Assunção Hofmann

Bio-based resins, obtained from renewable raw materials, are a more sustainable alternative to oil-based resins for fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The incorporation of lignin in those resins has the potential to enhance their performance. This ...

MDPI2023

Supramolecular Modifications of Semicrystalline Polymers

Michael Alan Giffin

Supramolecular interactions play an important role in defining the structure and the resulting mechanical properties of materials. For instance, interchain hydrogen-bonding in PAs gives them superior strength and stiffness in engineering materials, while t ...

EPFL2023