The selective integration of 'new' materials with traditional materials to produce structural materials with enhanced performance, offers unique opportunities for innovative product design and development. This hybrid material principle has been successfully exploited in sandwich panel technology and the concept of integrated multimaterials is now being extended to a wider variety of structures, component configurations and applications. These include bridge decks, lightweight car details, packaging laminates and off-shore platforms; further opportunities have been identified in high speed machinery, freight and passenger transport, fast marine vessels and plant engineering.

The potential benefits of these applications are improved product performance, increased serviceability of structures, reduction of structural volume and cost savings in materials. Innovative design concepts should also offer radical new manufacturing routes which would provide a competitive advantage to a number of industry sectors.

Objectives

The main obstacle to the development and exploitation of multimaterial technology is the lack of design rules, guidelines and codes of practice. The aim of the Network is to bring together the primary research activities associated with multimaterials through a collaborative programme to provide a generic design guide and methodology for industrial applications.

The key areas of development have been identified as: Joining Techniques, Environmental Issues, Materials Development, Process Technology, Modelling Techniques and Design Criteria. These subjects form the basis of a group of co-ordinated clusters, each of which will provide specific design information and recommendations. These outputs will be combined into a full Network design guides for multimaterial components and structures.

This page was designed and developed by the Joining Technology Research Centre (JTRC) at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. Last Modified: Tuesday, 17-Jul-2001 17:33:01 BST.