Department of Materials Science and Engineering

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Browsing Department of Materials Science and Engineering by Subject "automotive Lightweighting"

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    A novel digital lifecycle for Material-Process-Microstructure-Performance relationships of thermoplastic olefins foams manufactured via supercritical fluid assisted foam injection molding
    (Polymer Engineering and Science, 2024-03-15) Pradeep, Sai Aditya; Deshpande, Amit M.; Lavertu, Pierre‐Yves; Zheng, Ting; Yerra, Veera Aditya; Shimabukuro, Yiro; Li, Gang; Pilla, Srikanth
    This research significantly enhances the applicability of thermoplastic olefins (TPOs) in the automotive industry using supercritical N2 as a physical foaming agent, effectively addressing the limitations of traditional chemical agents. It merges experimental results with simulations to establish detailed material-process-microstructure-performance (MP2) relationships, targeting 5–20% weight reductions. This innovative approach labeled digital lifecycle (DLC) helps accurately predict tensile, flexural, and impact properties based on the foam microstructure, along with experimentally demonstrating improved paintability. The study combines process simulations with finite element models to develop a comprehensive digital model for accurately predicting mechanical properties. Our findings demonstrate a strong correlation between simulated and experimental data, with about a 5% error across various weight reduction targets, marking significant improvements over existing analytical models. This research highlights the efficacy of physical foaming agents in TPO enhancement and emphasizes the importance of integrating experimental and simulation methods to capture the underlying foaming mechanism to establish material-process-microstructure-performance (MP2) relationships. Highlights - Establishes a material-process-microstructure-performance (MP2) for TPO foams - Sustainably produces TPO foams using supercritical (ScF) N2 with 20% lightweighting - Shows enhanced paintability for TPO foam improved surface aesthetics - Digital lifecycle (DLC) that predicts both foam microstructure and properties - DLC maps process effects & microstructure onto FEA mesh for precise prediction
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