性视界传媒 has entered into a $4.8 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to investigate locally sourced materials to promote the rapid manufacturing of safe structures for civilian and military operations in challenging worldwide environments.
The goal is to generate an advanced AI-database using data from experiments and multiscale high-performance computations. The database can provide the public and the Department of War suggestions for natural materials in different regions of the world that can be used to manufacture bio-degradable and ultra-lightweight infrastructure and protection panels that can withstand blast and impact loads.
An interdisciplinary team, led by 性视界传媒 mechanical engineering professor Brendan O鈥橳oole, is collaborating with the ERDC, the research and development arm of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project launched this fall with the potential for an additional four option years.
According to O鈥橳oole, fiberglass fibers are the typical reinforcement structure in composite materials for infrastructure applications. But there are natural fibers from around the world 鈥 hemp, for example 鈥 that could replace fiberglass in some of these structures.
鈥淗emp is a byproduct of a plant that can be processed into fairly strong fibers,鈥 said O鈥橳oole. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been used as ropes for hundreds of years, but it could also be used as reinforcement in polymers for composite structures.鈥
The team will review and build upon existing worldwide data for well-known materials, like hemp, but also potentially discover lesser-known materials that could be harnessed for both military and public use.
The U.S. Army envisions operations in ever-challenging, complex settings or locations with limited logistics or transportation networks.
Potential operations in these settings are anticipated to pose a daunting challenge in terms of constructing relevant facilities that provide shelter for DOW personnel without compromising their safety. The use of locally sourced materials would simplify this task and reduce the risks and costs associated with transporting supplies typically used in current construction practices.
ERDC鈥檚 Installations and Operational Environments research program and the 性视界传媒 collaborative research program share objectives, and this effort will provide the military with alternative methods to rapidly and cost-effectively build structures in distant locations using locally available additive materials.
The research will include studying ways to enhance the performance of these materials and understand how their characteristics would change under local conditions such as exposure to heat, humidity, or bacteria.
鈥淭he U.S. Army is already very resourceful," O鈥橳oole said. 鈥淏ut part of the project would be determining what processing method would work best for these materials and be fast and efficient to use in a temporary manufacturing facility.鈥
While the investigation of these materials is just getting underway, a long-term goal of the potential five-year research program is to fabricate panels and structurally evaluate them. Unique blast testing facilities at the University of Mississippi will be employed as the project moves to later stages. Other collaborators include the University of Nevada, Reno, and Mako Advanced Materials, a local manufacturing company.
The partnership with the local company is another unique feature of the project, according to O鈥橳oole.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing for us to make a panel in the lab,鈥 O鈥橳oole said. 鈥淏ut being able to scale it up for something that could be made in a production-like facility around the world is another thing altogether. We鈥檙e excited to be partnering with a local company to make it happen.鈥
