Prof. Peter W R Beaumont, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK

Biography: Peter Beaumont was assistant professor in the School of Engineering at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He returned to England to take a position at the University of Cambridge.

His research over 4 decades on the fracture and fatigue of engineering materials, in particular advanced structural composite materials, duplex polymeric systems and engineering ceramics, has resulted in200 scientific publications in leading international academic journals and international conference proceedings. He has made contributions to materials science of composites encyclopaedia, to research treatise on composite materials, to engineering design books and material design guides.

Throughout his research, the objective is to make strong interdisciplinary links between the scientific principles and other applied sciences to material behaviour, including materials in there construction of the ailing human frame. Some of this work has led to a new formulation of the principles of damage mechanics of composite materials. His speciality interests include the identification and the understanding of problems that limit the performance, reliability, and structural integrity of non-metallic materials, polymers and adhesives and composite material systems; their design and successful exploitation and commercialisation across the widest spectrum of engineering uses.

His most recent academic distinctions and awards include: Distinguished Research Award presented by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Distinguished Teaching Award by the University of California (UCLA) for Dedication to the Teaching and Research of Engineering Polymers and Composites in Academia, Industry and Commerce.

He has consulted for industrial and government global organizations. He has presented 100 international short course programs around the world and numerous specialised scientific meetings on the science and technology of composite materials for industry and universities in the USA, UK, India, China, Australia, Mexico, and EU.

Speech Title: Progress in the Micro-mechanics of Structural Composites

Abstract: Since the discovery and public announcement of carbon fibre 50 years ago, there has been a plethora of papers published in a growing number of journals on a variety of aspects of composite material systems and design methods of composite structures. But remarkably few (in percentage terms) have provided indepth insight of composite material behaviour over a spectrum of industrial applications and public sectors. In scientific terms, there has not been a thorough quantitative formulation of the relationships that connect processing and design of composite on the one hand, and durability of composite structure on the other. As a result, there lacks an understanding of what structural integrity of a composite actually means. Structural integrity requires the optimisation of microstructure and intelligent manufacturing and processing of the material to maximise the mechanical performance and reliability of the final large scale structure to avoid calamity and distress.

A perspective of current design practice, which is largely based on traditional methods of empiricism, shows that the current empirical approach is not well suited for a cost-conscious economic climate. After five decades of composite materials research, it is about time to apply existing knowledge and “know-how” to the development and exploitation of methods for lifetime prediction of large structures; to re-appraise current design practice and future design strategies; and to develop and validate risk-based assessment methodologies. This requires an integration of scientific disciplines, skills and understanding that come from a wealth of knowledge of experimental information and applied analytical procedures, and the application of modelling of various kinds including optimisation studies, and computer-based modelling.

One way forward is to fully utilise the predictive powers of modelling to optimize composite processing and design, structural integrity and performance. Undoubtedly, progress has been made in the past decade in bringing together the basic concepts and mathematical and physical models of composite behaviour and in reconciling them with each other. But progress has been such and the burden of cost enormous that industry and the engineer can reasonably be expected now to ask for a condensation of all this work to a set of effective design and optimisation methods and codes that can be applied by those who understand the underlying principles and recognise the likely dangers and limitations.

It is my contention that progress already made is sufficient to justify responding to the designer's need for computational methods of optimisation and numerical techniques that can be applied to solving a wide range of practical engineering problems. Furthermore, to recognise that the gap that opened up a decade or more ago between the dimensional domains of the physicist or materials scientist and the structural engineer requires bridging finally. This demands an understanding of the management and control of microstructure of material reoptimizing strength and structural integrity, together with a raised level of confidence in predicting performance and lifetime. We need to reconcile the irregularities of the microstructure with the assumed continua of the computational methods of modelling in order to develop the generic material by processing and design optimisation and structural integrity methodologies. This can be accomplished through an integrated approach across disciplines, industrial sectors and life cycle stages to solve problems in composite materials, structural design, performance assessment and lifetime prediction, from the conceptual stage through to processing and finally to obsolescence of the component. It is from detailed consideration of these experiences that effective design codes and methods of optimisation, structural integrity and lifetime prediction will evolve and encourage further improvement of the science and technology to develop.

At the micron level, basic research seeks a detailed understanding of the problem through elegant analysis or experimentation with conspicuous absence of immediate need for solution or time constraints. At the other end of the sizescale solutions to applied problems need not necessarily be complete and in fact a complete understanding of the problem is rarely required. The solutions require synthesis, optimisation, approximation and "feel", and they generally have a time constraint.

A fruitful route is one that begins the discussion of the design optimisation process at the constituent level and progresses by moving from one size level to the next utilising micro-mechanics or mechanism-based physical models. When combined with mathematical and continuum models and computational models, this leads to a powerful alternative to designing the empirical way. And in the hierarchy of discrete modelling methods is finite element modelling where discrete units or cells respond to body forces and temperature via constitutive equations.

An encouraging feature of recent studies is where materials science and various kinds of modelling have brought a unification of concepts and techniques for the optimisation of material microstructure and structural performance of material under load. Such modelling studies combined with continuous efforts to improve the material and manufacturing process have done much to reduce and limit the incidence of flagrant and catastrophic failures.

Thus, the multi-disciplinary approach is set to play a major role: by shortening the design-cycle time (thereby reducing costs); by maximising performance and structural integrity; by increasing reliability of materials; and by raising confidence in lifetime prediction methods for structures. It includes the integration of optimisation in the overall design and manufacturing processes, material behaviour and material modelling, and includes computational modelling across length and time scales characteristic of a variety of material and structural problems.