National Aeronautics and Space Administration University Leadership Initiative (ULI) and the impact of collaborative research advancing the future of aerospace manufacturing.
Through the ULI program, the UD Center For Composite Materials (UD-CCM) developed scalable composite manufacturing technologies capable of achieving aerospace-level performance at automotive production rates for advanced air mobility applications. Key accomplishments included the development of highly aligned discontinuous-fiber TuFF composites with thermoplastic and thermoset matrices, offering greater than 50% stretch in the fiber direction, and stamp-forming processes for complex-geometry parts with cycle times below five minutes. Material property databases for static and fatigue loading were generated, with properties comparable to those of continuous-fiber composites.
The program also developed advanced micromechanics models for predicting effective viscosity, as well as experimental methods and data-reduction procedures to determine constitutive models describing the stress-strain-rate response of TuFF composites. The constitutive models were successfully implemented in both Abaqus and Aniform software. These simulation tools were used for process and tooling design to successfully form doubly curved parts without wrinkles. Simulation predictions were experimentally validated through part-forming trials. The ULI established a digital design environment for TuFF manufacturing of aerospace structures that meet stringent dimensional and quality requirements at high production rates.
Beyond research and technology development, the ULI program supported significant education and workforce development efforts, engaging 14 faculty members and more than 80 students. The program also supported NASA internships, outreach programs, national conference participation, and STEM engagement activities that reached more than 2,500 K–12 students.
We are proud of the partnerships, research accomplishments, and workforce development efforts enabled through this program and grateful to NASA and our collaborators for supporting this work.
Learn more about the NASA ULI program: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/uli-10-years-of-impact/
Learn more about the UD-CCM ULI program and research highlights: https://ccm.udel.edu/project/uli-collaboration/