SBIR Phase I: Thermo-mechanical analysis of chopped fiber-reinforced plastics for the design engineer

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project may be characterized by major advances in analysis of injection-molded parts, providing notable societal benefits through innovative new uses of these materials. Of particular note in this regard is the automotive industry. Despite the long held promise of composite materials in automotive applications, the industry has been slow to adopt widespread use of composites due to uncertainties in performance under challenging loading conditions. A successful rollout of the envisioned software will bring transformational change to this industry, leading to notable long-term societal benefits related to energy efficiency and safety. Beyond the automotive industry, chopped fiber structural components are ubiquitous in consumer products, aerospace components, and electronics. The company's goal is to provide accurate solutions involving complex material behavior, producing parts designed for maximum efficiency and achieved at initial fabrication rather than after multiple production iterations. The result is a disruptive technology that will dramatically lower the cost of production. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the immense technical challenge associated with nonlinear material modeling to failure of structural components made using chopped fiber composite materials. The fiber volume fractions and orientations of a chopped fiber composite material produce wild microstructural configurations that may vary throughout the structure. The problem is significantly amplified by the complex deformation mechanisms occurring in typical polymer matrix materials. Moreover, polymer behavior is dramatically influenced by environmental and loading conditions. Existing software solutions for the engineering analysis of chopped fiber structural components are either inadequate due to gross oversimplifications or, at the other extreme, overly complex to implement, thereby rendering them useless to the typical design engineer. Lack of an adequate software solution results in expensive over-design and dramatically longer cycles to market. The company's goal is to provide accurate solutions involving complex material behavior, producing parts designed for maximum efficiency and achieved at initial fabrication rather than after multiple production iterations. A hallmark of the company's software is an emphasis on simplicity while still producing high fidelity stress analyses simulating complex nonlinear material behaviors.