Boqin Gu, Ye Chen and Jianfeng Zhou Nanjing University of Technology, China 1. Introduction Asbestos was once considered to be a "miracle mineral". This naturally occurring silicate has many desirable characteristics, including resistance to fire, heat, and corrosion. It is strong, durable and flexible. Asbestos is inexpensive because it is available in abundant quantities. Its […]
Category: ADVANCES IN COMPOSITE MATERIALS – ECODESIGN AND ANALYSIS
Finite element eco-approach
When the analytical or mathematical solution does not exist, numerical methods such as finite element method (Jones, 1999 and Zienkiewicz et al, 2005) may be used to yield an approached solution. However, to achieve sustainable structural performance that is also based on an assessment of environmental and health performances, it is imperative to consider these […]
Generalized Hooke’s eco-law for unidirectional ply
In high-performance composite structures, structural components are manufactured mainly from unidirectional fibre-reinforced plies, where the ply axes are identified in the principal coordinate system with numbers 1, 2 and 3. Whereas, the laminate axes are identified in the global coordinate system (Cartesian coordinates) with letters x, y and z (Jones, 1999 & Saarela, 1994). The […]
Eco-characterisation of composite materials
To further explain this approach, let us consider a simple standard material characterisation test under uniaxial mechanical tension, chosen because it is the easiest and most convenient mechanical test (Attaf, 2008). For better understanding and more explicit interpretation, the results are presented in the form of conventional stress-strain diagram, where the x-axis represents strain є […]
Material eco-characterisation and advanced eco-formulations
Throughout the design process, it is considered that the condition of intersection between Q, H & E is always performed, so the product of the associated eco-coefficients. For notation simplicity, this product expressed by axpxy may be reduced and replaced by a single factor called "eco-efficiency factor", denoted for example by the Greek letter X. […]
Multidimensional optimisation software tool
Given the complexity of the optimisation process, which has to be applied in each phase involved in the design of a FRP composite product whilst taking into account the three key criteria Q, H & E, it is important to develop a software tool capable to solve the probability problem and provide a high technique […]
Ecodesign optimisation
1.4 Ecodesign flow-chart The objective is characterised by an optimisation of the ecodesign function, in which the Q- H-E aspects all interact together (probability of the event F ). The optimisation process is represented by a flow-chart and illustrated in Figure 6. The analysis of data after each loop for the stage k=1 will be […]
Assessment of the eco-coefficients using code colours
To further facilitate the understanding of the ecodesign modelling and the approach allowing the calculation of different eco-coefficients, we think that it will be easy to formulate the problem by simply referring to Figure 3, which illustrates the synthesis of additive colours between the three primary RGB ones. For instance, the red colour characterises the […]
Ecodesign coefficients
1.3 Identification of the eco-coefficients As there are N successive stages in the design process, we found it convenient to assign to each of Q, H and E aspects a specific coefficient representing the probability of approval. When ecological considerations are taken into account, these coefficients are now called "eco-coefficients”. From this standpoint, it may […]
Practical descriptions of the variable probability elements
To be familiar with the probability variable elements expressed by Equation (2), let us consider for example the statement "quality-assurance aspect is achievable and sustainable for the mould polymerisation process” and we let the letter "x” denotes the property named "quality- assurance aspect is achievable and sustainable” and the subscript "k” refers to the stage […]