MATERIALS | CARBON COMPOSITES
AWRHEY T CHOEM FPUOTUSIRTEES
Morgan Advanced Materials and Royal Academy of Engineering
Chair Professor Ian Kinloch are tackling carbon-carbon composite
challenges across a range of industries.
Carbon composites are in
high demand across the
globe, particularly in the
aerospace, automotive,
mechanical engineering and rail
sectors. However, as many of these
materials were developed decades
ago, modern analytical and synthetic
techniques have the potential to
improve these materials, whilst
also lowering production costs and
producing greener more energy
ef cient products.
Professor Ian Kinloch, and his
group in the Department of Materials
at the University of Manchester, are
collaborating with Morgan Advanced
Materials with the aim of creating
a deep understanding of carboncarbon
composites.
The Royal Academy of
Engineering has awarded Prof
Kinloch a research chair, which
will help fund the project. Using
experimentation, state-of-the-art
analysis and analytical models, the
ve-year project will pave the way to
new carbon pantographs,
high-temperature thermal
insulation materials, and
improved seals and
bearings.
Carbon-carbon
One sector
which could bene t
greatly from improved
carbon-carbon composites
is rail. Commonly used
within the rail sector,
pantographs are the
apparatus mounted on
the roof of an electric
composites range
from simple
unidirectional bre
reinforced structures,
to more complex
three-dimensional
structures. Their properties
mean that they are designed
to higher strength and stiffness
speci cations and, unlike metals,
can maintain these properties at high
temperatures.
train, tram or bus
For those who aren’t familiar with
carbon, this element forms different
structures depending on synthesis
conditions. Diamond and graphite
are the most familiar forms, but there
are also nanotubes, ‘buckyballs’
(more commonly known as
fullerenes), and most recently,
graphene. These various forms are
what give carbon its huge range of
material properties, leading to
increased versatility in use.
Funding this research
allows Prof Kinloch and
Morgan Advanced Materials
to discover new ways
in which carbon-carbon
composites can bene t a
large number of industrial
industries.
ROLLING PANTOGRAPHS
IN A NEW DIRECTION
One sector which could bene t
greatly from improved carbon-carbon
composites is rail. Commonly used
within the rail sector, pantographs are
the apparatus mounted on the roof of
an electric train, tram or bus. With an
increased demand for greener public
transport due to rapidly growing
populations, the electrical output
needs to increase to accommodate
the increased footfall and additional
comforts such as air conditioning,
Wi-Fi and charging ports.
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