Dr Amir Hosein Sakhaei, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering, together with Dr Mahmoud Shafiee, Reader in Mechanical Engineering, have been awarded a Royal Society research grant for their project Additive Manufacturing of Composite Materials.
The UK composites industry is highly technology-intensive, valued at £4.0 billion in 2019 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.9% from 2019 to 2035 to reach £6.3 billion by 2035. Furthermore, “Lightweighting” has major positive environmental outcomes, due to the effect of weight reduction on reducing the CO2 emission level in transport industry. This research award will enable new composite manufacturing technologies based on additive manufacturing (3D printing) to be integrated in the design and development of new products.
Dr Sakhaei commented: ‘This project aims to leverage the mechanical enhancement and weight optimization of various structural components by additive manufacturing of composite materials through an advanced technology. Composite materials have a very high strength-to-weight ratio in comparison with other metallic and ceramic materials. This will advantage their applications in many mobility-based industries such as automotive, aerospace, and transport by reducing the cost and weight of the end-use components, while maintaining significant mechanical properties.’