Material engineering influences composites on the microscopic scale and investigates effects on the microscopic and macroscopic scales. In general, a direct engineering approach is used, meaning that per-phase properties of composite constituents are given directly in combination with microstructure information and composite properties are computed on that base.
In research, the approach allows insight into materials and to systematically understand mechanisms that dominate the macroscopic material properties arising from the microscopic composition.
Based on this understanding the purpose of material engineering is to further identify promising candidates for new composite materials, thereby reducing the amount of experimental effort needed. This helps to save money and reduce the time required to develop new materials.
In industrial applications the approach supports the design of composite structures by providing high quality micromechanical material models that can be used in integrative simulations to describe the performance of the part in the best way possible.
The set-up of quantitative micromechanical models typically follows a reverse engineering strategy. The constituents’ parameters are varied in a characteristic physical range to match the global performance of the material as observed in anisotropic measurements.
Material experts know the characteristics of their materials best. This knowledge arises from activities that cover:
- Measurement of anisotropic data
- Set-up & parameterization of micromechanical material models