Project

Term Project ME540-Dr. Youssef

Polymer-Polymer Composite

A composite material in general consists of a reinforcement phase that is held together in a specific

geometrical configurations by a matrix phase. The reinforcement, as well as the matrix, phase can

belong to any class of traditional or nontraditional materials. The reinforcement phase can take

different geometries that range from fibers (continuous or discontinues) to particulates (whiskers,

spheres, etc.) or even to flat sheets. Therefore, the resulting composite materials inherit a mixture

of the properties of the matrix and reinforcement phases based on the volume fraction of each.

Low energy impacts are ubiquitous in our daily lives such as those experienced during

walking, jogging or running. To effectively mitigate impact loadings, a structure must reduce the

amplitude while increasing the duration of the impact force to allow enough time for the body to

naturally respond. One clear example of such a structure is running shoes, which consists of three

layers: outsole, midsole and insole; all of which are made of polymeric materials such as

polyurethane and expanded poly vinyl acetate.

The objective of this project is to create virtual computer experiments to design a new

polymer-polymer composite for running shoes by adhering to the following general strategy.

1- Create a tri-layer composite structure that replicates the following sketch. The top and

bottom layers are made of dense polyurea (testing data will be provided), while the

middle layer is made of polyurea foam (testing data will be provided). In one

simulation, represent the top and bottom layers using Hyperelastic model and the

middle layer using Hyperfoam model. In another simulation, the middle layer remains

as Hyperfoam, while the other two layers are to be represented by a linear viscoelastic

model (data will be provided). These models will be discussed in lecture. Your group

should experiment with different hyperelastic models to find the one the better fits the

experimental data, i.e. model calibration to be discussed in class. You can approximate

impact loading with a half-sine with a period of 30ms, where the amplitude should be

125% of average weight of an American runner (a design parameter to be researched

and decided by your group). Replicate these studies with bonded contact and friction

contact with coefficient of friction of 0.8.

2- Reinforce the top layer of the sample geometry you created in Step 1 with either

microspheres, continuous micro-fibers or discontinuous micro-fibers. Each group will

only be assigned one specific reinforcement type and volume fraction. You will have

to adjust the diameter of the sample to accommodate the volume fraction of the

reinforcement phase (i.e., design parameter). Simulation parameters will be randomly

assigned during lecture.

Term Project ME540-Dr. Youssef

3- Repeat Step 1 by performing the virtual experiment for the composite using the same

loading conditions.

Deliverables,

i. Models (Ansys project and SolidWorks files) and stress-strain curves from Step 1

above.

ii. Models of the reinforced sample geometries (Ansys project and SolidWorks files) with

agreed upon simulation parameters.

iii. Stress-strain curves from Step 3.

iv. Brief 2 pages report (not including figures) to summarize your findings. Adhere to the

proper technical writing style. Poorly written reports will not be graded. Poorly written

is defined as: incomplete sentence structure, missing punctuations, incorrect grammars,

confusion between spoken and written English, run-on and very long sentences.

Formatting guidelines: 12 font Times New Roman, 1” margined all around, single

spaced.

v. Every team member is expected to contribute to each task and milestone. This mirrors

the merit-based review that you will encounter once you join industry. Thus, every

team must submit Team Evaluation Matrix (an example is posted on BlackBoard).