Centre for Intelligent Transport

Decoding the Material Degradation Mechanisms Under High-velocity Liquid-solid Impact Loadings

Principal investigator:Wei TAN
Funding source(s):Royal Society
 Start: 31-03-2023  /  End: 30-03-2025
 Amount: £70000
Research Centre:
Royal Society
Background and Vision:

The impact between a high-velocity liquid mass (or soft body) and a solid can generate transient stress waves and cause significant damage on the soft body or solid materials. This multiphysics Liquid-Solid Impact (LSI) phenomenon is not only ubiquitous in nature (e.g. coastal erosion) but also presents a major concern for energy, transportation and healthcare sectors, from leading-edge erosion on wind/steam turbine blades, bird strikes on aircraft to brain injuries in crash events. The materials exposed to hygrothermal (temperature and humidity) environments will absorb moisture and degrades the properties, making materials vulnerable to repeated high-velocity liquid impact loadings. In order to address the degradation challenges of materials, a fundamental understanding of the LSI damage mechanisms is required.