Automotive Composites: January 2010

The Journey

First thing first, I would like to show my gratitude to Jenna Eason, who's enlightening blog has inspired me to create my own. Jenna graduated from the Master's program here at NC State's College of Textiles in 2009, her research was on the history and future trends of automotive textile design (http://automotivetextiledesign.blogspot.com/). So, I just wanted to thank Jenna for giving me the idea to create this blog, which I hope will be used to inspire further gradutate students to follow in our footsteps and carry on this tradition.

I have always been fascinated with complexity and engineering of automobiles and how they work. Since I was young, I have always been drawn to cars,the design, attention to detail and a passion for driving. An extensive amount of processes must work in perfect synergy in order for an automobile to be an efficient driving machine.

Everyday research is progressing the technology in automobiles, making them faster, more user friendly, more cost and energy efficient. My research is in light weight composite materials to be used in automobiles. The aim of my research is to investigate processes and materials which could be cost efficient means of creating strong three-dimensional structural components.

I have three key purposes for this blog:

1. An educational source focusing on textile-related materials that are or could be utilized by the automotive industry. When using the term "textiles" in the automotive field, one may only envision seat cloths or headliners, when I would like to use this blog as an eye opener to the world of functional technical textiles. Materials such as woven carbon fiber composites have been floating around in the industry for years, however, the spectrum is open to so many more possibilities. I would like to open the blog to the entire spectrum, from eco-friendly biocomposites, to exotic three-dimensional nonwovens, the sky is the limit. I anticipate that this focus will shed light on the promising relationship that the textiles industry will have in the future of automobiles.

2. This will be a journal I will use to document my process through my thesis research. I have always found it easier to comprehend a situation if I have the opportunity to write out my thoughts. I hope to use this blog as a creative expression of my research while having the opportunity to present my experiences through my journey. I would appreciate any suggestions, advice, and ideas.

3. Finally, I would like to utilize this blog as a guide to any other graduate students through their research. I hope this will help inspire others and even answer any questions about the process. I have always been one to say, do what makes you happy and don't let anything stand in your way. So when the opportunity comes knocking to give you the chance to do something you love, don't think twice and always give it 100%.

First order of business, to find a specific thesis topic...

"Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of the opportunity when it occurs."

-Mario Andretti

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Inspiration

The past few weeks have been a bit hectic, classes have begun and I am finally in classes that I believe can offer the most towards my research. Also, I have finally come to a decision on my thesis topic. I will be focusing my research on using nonwoven technology to design rigid three dimensional structures with a rapid prototyping approach. Basically, I intend to investigate the ability to create a nonwoven, economical alternative to the current woven carbon fiber.

Today i participated in a web seminar that promoted a new, very innovative software for virtual design. The company is Realtim

e Technology AG (RTT, USA) and they offer a 3D visualization software which enable the user to create a virtual prototype utilizing any physical material in realtime. Basically, any material can be scanned into the software's library or a material can be created virtually and scaled to build a virtual model. The user can view the model in any virtual environment and can even test the fluid flow of a model. Using this software can significantly lower the cost and time of design and product development. I thought this was a very novel software, if you would like to know more, check out the website at http://www.rttusa.com/.

Due to the fact that my last few weeks have been so very busy with getting things in order, I thought that I would get my mind off of things and shed light on an extreme in the automotive community. I wanted to highlight the Splinter car, that's right the wooden supercar. A

few years ago, NCSU graduate student in industrial design, Joe Harmon designed and built a 2500 lbs. two-seater with around 600 horsepower. The body was made by weaving wooden strips into sheets, molding the sheets into the desired shape and vacuum sealing it with resin. Not only was the body made from wood, the frame, interior (woven wooden seats, wooden steering wheel), suspension (wooden leaf springs) and even the wheels. Joe event went as far as to track down a type of wood known as osage orange (the strongest wood found in North America) in Kentucky to build the leaf springs. Joe's intention wasn't to put it into production but to show the diversity of a material and to push the limits. To see more on the Splinter including detailed video and visual documentation through the entire build process, check out the website at http://www.joeharmondesign.com/. I wanted to highlight this project because it has been personally inspiring and I believe it offers an amazing insight to the world of materials and their capabilities.

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." -Leonardo da Vinci

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Experience

First, I hope everyone had wonderful and safe holidays, it was nice to have a relaxing break but I am looking forward to hitting the ground running. I wanted to start this post with a quick overview of my previous related work experience before I start getting too in depth with my research plans.

I was accepted into NCSU in the biomedical engineering field, for which I was very excited. However, the first semester, I took the elective T101 and my mind was opened to an entirely different world, a new, revolutionary world of textiles. I was blown away, and I had to be part of it. In my undergraduate studies, I was able to hone my research and experimentation abilities.

During the summer of 2008, I had the opportunity to intern with Guilford Performance Textiles, who are leaders in automotive textile production (seat cloth, headliners, etc.). I was very fortunate to be able to work with such a strong company, I was able to see manufacturing first hand and actually be a part of something global. My project there was to investigate a new camera-based quality inspection system. I had to research the parts and present my final recommendation for what to use for the system and how to implement it. This was a great experience and I am very thankful to have been able to do that.

Very soon before my undergraduate graduation in December of 2008, Nancy Powell contacted me about a possible job opportunity with a very innovative company called the Advanced Vehicle Research Center (AVRC).

At this time, the company was very strong with their DoE (Department of Energy) contracts, PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle) upgrades to the Toyota Prius and they were expanding into PHEV charging stations, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) up fitments, and much more. I have always loved to be on the cutting edge of technology, especially technology that is helpful to society and the environment, so needless to say that I was very excited to begin working with them. My time at AVRC was never dull, there was always something going on, one day I was writing website code, the next day I would be traveling to Ashville to help with a PHEV installation. During the year that I was able to work with them, AVRC opened an amazing headquarters in Danville, Virginia in the up and coming "Cyber Park", equipped with an off road testing track and 16,000 sq.ft. of office and garage space. I hope to be able to work with AVRC again in the future.

While I was with AVRC, I attended an open house at NCSU and missed it too much to stay away. So, I studied, took my GRE and came back to graduate school in the Fall of 2009. My experience in the automotive field has brought me through the manufacturing aspects of it as well as the customer-interaction and development stages. Over my time in "real-world" experience, I have been able to see what works, what doesn't, what people want and things that people would love but know about yet.

As for my research towards my thesis, I believe I will be locking myself in the library for quite awhile in order to do some literature research to see what is out there. As I have stated before, I am interested in this nonwoven preform process. Professor Powell thought it was a great idea and suggested that I somehow incorporate a way to create the molds quickly in order to create a rapid prototype of the nonwoven parts...