Advanced Materials & Sustainable Manufacturing (AMSM) Research Group
of METU NCC SEES
Advanced materials are contemporary, novel and highly versatile materials that outperform conventional ones with their superior properties. Advanced materials play a pivotal role in advancing technologies that can help build a sustainable future in all aspects. Along with the use of advanced materials, sustainable manufacturing practices aim to minimise negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources, and enhance employee, community, and product safety. Some of the activities of the group involve research on sustainable construction materials, PV solar cell design using metamaterials and carbon nanotubes, synthetic functional molecules, and mechanics and atomistic modelling of carbon nanotubes and polymer composites. You can find below brief description of cutting-edge research conducted by SEES AMSM Group member Dr. Volkan Esat.
Modelling and Analysis of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer Composites – Dr. Volkan Esat
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered to be one of the superior engineering materials that exhibit exceptional material properties. Carbon nanotubes are embedded in a polymer matrix to form Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer (CNTRP) composites in order to attain lightweight structures with enhanced mechanical properties. CNTs are categorized as single-walled and multi-walled based on the number of concentric tubes. Despite having been discovered first, multi-walled carbon nanotubes have not been studied as extensively as single-walled counterparts. This is mainly due to the fact that the latter offers higher strength and have greater stiffness in applications, and more importantly, is easier to model and investigate. However, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) prove to be superior to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in certain applications. Dr Esat's research aims to contribute to the atomistic modelling and analysis of various SWNTs and MWNTs with different chiralities in order to investigate essential mechanical properties using nano-scale equivalent continuum modelling. CNTRP composites are formed that embed SWNTs and MWNTs as reinforcement elements. Similarly, CNTRP composite finite element models developed are utilised to bring insight into the interaction between CNT fibres and polymer matrix. The findings are also employed in automotive safety and crashworthiness investigations that utilise similar composites as advanced structural materials.
- Click here to read past news of ongoing cutting-edge research at our campus.