PhD Seminar Series: “Advanced multiscale modeling, uncertainty quantification and optimization of variable stiffness composites through unified structural theories”

We continue our seminar series on Friday, Dec. 13th at 13.00

On site: Salón de Grados (Leganés)

For this event in the Aerospace PhD Seminar Series, we have the pleasure of hosting Dr. Alberto Racionero Sánchez-Majano, postdoctoral researcher at Mul2 group at Politecnico di Torino.

The event took place in the Salón de Grados on Friday, December 13th at 13:00 pm and was (Online).

Alberto Racionero Sánchez-Majano is a postdoctoral researcher at Mul2 group at Politecnico di Torino, working with Professors Alfonso Pagani and Marco Petrolo. Alberto obtained a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from UPM in 2017 and 2019, respectively. After graduating, he moved to Turin to start his PhD in the ERC Starting Grant project PRE-ECO. During his PhD, he developed advanced multiscale finite element models for analyzing tow-steered composites. He also delved into the numerical modeling of manufacturing defects induced by Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) machines, addressing their influence on the component’s structural performance. He is also interested in the structural optimization of variable stiffness composite laminates incorporating the manufacturing signature of the AFP and investigating how different modeling approaches affect the retrieved optimal designs. Apart from his PhD activities, he has also been part of the Embraer’s Aeroelastic Tailoring Consortium, which was awarded the von Karman for International Cooperation in Aeronautics at the ICAS Conference held in Florence in 2024, and a Visiting Scholar at Virginia Tech’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

“Advanced multiscale modeling, uncertainty quantification and optimization of variable stiffness composites through unified structural theories”

Abstract:

The irruption in the last decades of advanced fabrication technology like the Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) has permitted the conception of novel families of composite laminated structures, known as tow-steered composites, where the fibers are laid down following curvilinear paths rather than fixed directions within the lamina. Although variable stiffness composites present advantages compared to classical laminates, their modeling is cumbersome due to the high anisotropy and multiscale nature of composite materials. In addition, manufacturing limitations and defects undermining the structural performance need to be considered during these components’ design and optimization phases. This seminar will show the techniques and methods engineers can use to accurately and efficiently model variable-angle tow composites, how the manufacturing signature of the AFP machine can be included in the numerical model to perform uncertainty quantification, and optimization techniques capable of dealing with the discrete nature of structural tailoring in composite laminates.