Zachary Melrose, a University of Delaware doctoral student in mechanical engineering has been awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship to examine the development of “multifunctional structural composites through the selective integration of nanomaterials in composites.”
The current approach to in-situ damage sensing [in multifunctional structures] involves uniformly dispersing carbon nanotubes throughout the composite to create an electrically conductive network,” Melrose said. “I plan to extend that approach through selective modification to produce a material with a controlled hierarchy.”
Melrose is in the process of investigating two different processing techniques and plans to explore the use of alternative materials, including graphene.
Learn more from the University of Delaware.
Image: University of Delaware
