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SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR
Wednesday, october 30, 2019 at 14:00
Wolfson Building of Mechanical Engineering, Room 206

 Prediction of Damage Propagation in Aerospace Composite Structures: Advanced Numerical and Experimental Methods

 Dr. Ofir Shor
 serves as a composite-materials expertise at Rafael

 The use of composite materials in advanced engineering applications is growing rapidly due to their excellent specific strength, fatigue and corrosion resistance, and the ability to tailor their mechanical properties in order to achieve optimal structural performance. Due to their complex architecture, failure of composite materials is often characterized by the onset and progression of distinct damage mechanisms that interact with each other and yield a complex material behavior during loading.
The advances in knowledge and computational power have allowed sophisticated numerical tools and methods to be applied in order to investigate, predict and describe the behavior of composite materials at various stages, from manufacturing to service, and their ultimate failure. These methods are currently applied to small scale structures and test coupons, while predicting failure in large scale composite structures, remains a challenging task.
In this seminar, the governing failure mechanisms of composites will be described, followed by innovative approaches of simulating these failure modes in large scale structures. Practical examples demonstrating how advanced experimental methods are utilized with cutting-edge numerical tools to allow simulation of damage propagation in composites will be presented. This will be followed by a brief overview of the latest research activities performed in Rafael in collaboration with the US Air Force Research Laboratory in the exciting field of composite materials.

Brief Biography
Dr. Ofir Shor serves as a composite-materials expertise at Rafael Advanced Defense System LTD, specializing in numerical simulation of composite structures, damage propagation and failure of composite materials. Ofir conducts innovative research which utilizes advanced experimental and analytical techniques aimed at developing practical numerical methodologies, while collaborating with world research leaders in this fast growing field.