Last year, vehicles transported more than $32 billion worth of goods each day and moved people more than 3 trillion vehicle-miles. Most of the vehicle fuel consumption goes to vehicle acceleration (kinetic energy), climbing hills (potential energy), and overcoming frictional forces, all of which are associated with the vehicle body weight. To reduce energy consumption in next generation vehicles, it is essential to reduce the overall weight of the vehicles. This can be accomplished by using novel multiscale reinforced lightweight composites. In this project, a unique phase-enhanced hybrid nanocomposite fiber for composite materials will be developed and tested. The hierarchical multiscale composite will consist of macro-, meso-, micro- as well as nanofeatures, all of which are responsible for imparting unique and mutually exclusive mechanical properties. The fibers will be engineered with micro-architectured reinforcements that inherently create hierarchical fillers to result in higher strength, almost twice that of carbon fiber, Spectra/Dyneema, or Kevlar, and 75% lighter in weight than steel. An innovative synthesis and fiber spinning process will be used to manufacture the hybrid nanocomposite fibers with increased strength-to-weight and toughness-to-weight ratios, as well as high specific stiffness, excellent chemical/corrosion resistance, and the ability to absorb and redistribute impact energy before local failure conditions are met. The multiscale composite material will enable reduced weight and volume of structural components, resulting in increased vehicle energy efficiency and increased crashworthiness capabilities. In addition to automotive applications, the multiscale reinforced lightweight composite material can also address weight and energy challenges in other transportation sectors, such as aerospace, marine, and railway, which would all benefit from reduced-weight structures. The technology can be applied to any structural application throughout all industries where economic and environmental factors are driving weight reduction efforts.
