ABSTRACT:

Polymer-based advanced composites always suffer from degradation at extreme temperatures in the range between 220 and 77 K and low atmospheric pressure. Within this temperature range, composite structures behave very brittle and many micro-cracks are easily formed due to differential thermal coefficients of expansion (CTEs) between polymer matrix and high strength reinforcements. Besides, at the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment the structures may also be subject to damages due to micro-meteoroid attack, in which many tiny particles left over from the formation of the solar system and they are travelling at very high speed (hyper-velocity) to cause serious impact and abrasion onto the structures. Out-gassing and high oxidation rate are also problems for polymers using at this environment. In this lecture, an overview on the nanocomposites, their mechanical, thermal and structural properties at different working environments is given. The following key items will also be introduced: (i) design of the heat shield’s geometry for re-entry vehicles; (ii) shock wave effect in relation to the heat transmission to the vehicles; (iii) advantage of using Phenolic Resin Carbon Ablator (PICA); (iv) types of nanoparticles for property enhancement for the vehicles and (v) possibility of using nano-particles to enhance the effectiveness of pyrolyzing process of PICA to prolong the heat transfer.

Brief Biography:

Professor Lau has taken up the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (research Performance and Development) of Swinburne University of Technology, Australia since April 2016. Prior to this appointment, he was appointed as Alex Wong/Gigi Wong Professor in Product Design Engineering and Associate Dean (Industrial Relation) in the Faculty of Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Professor Lau has received numerous research and teaching awards since 2002. His published articles have received citations over 9900 with the h-index of 49 (web of science is > 4400 with h-index of 33). He is a Fellow of the European Academy of Science and Arts. He is now also the International Vice President of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Independent Non-executive Director of Kingsflair International (Holdings) Limited.
 
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