DİMAP – Direct Digital Manufacturing Platform project is advancing

DİMAP – Direct Digital Manufacturing Platform project which officially started with its Kick-off Meeting on 25rd March 2023 has been advancing at its full speed.

The project is funded by EC IPA-II (Instrument for Pre-Accession) CISOP (Competitiveness and Innovation Sector Operational Programme) through Ministry of Industry and Technology (MoIT) of Turkey.

Direct Digital Manufacturing Platform (DiMAP) which will be integrated and will expand within the Sabancı University Integrated Advanced Manufacturing Centre (SU-IMC), is aimed to be an innovative digital AM platform for quality control, testing and characterization of data-driven smart manufacturing systems within the current center. Thus, this platform will help and transform SMEs by enabling and uplifting them to manufacture high value-added functional parts. In certain applications, with the help of DiMAP, the pilot-scale products or product groups of SMEs will be extended up to TRL-7 (demonstration of the prototypes in operational environment).

The Project is composed of Technical Assistance and Supply Components. TA is being conducted by Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Within the project, 18 different equipment under 8 LOTs are supplied.

• Lot 1: Additive Manufacturing and Post Processing Equipment (EBM, high Pressure dynamic gas cold spray, tube furnace, ball milling system, CNC lathe)
• Lot 2: Material Characterization Equipment (XRD, Microstructure specimen preparation)
• Lot 3: Mechanical Testing And Characterization Equipment (Hardness tester, Creep tester, Tribometer)
• Lot 4: Metrology and In-Situ Monitoring Equipment (3D scanner, ultrasonic immersion system)
• Lot 5: Microscopy Equipment (SEM with FIB)
• Lot 6: X-Ray Computed Tomography (X-CT)
• Lot 7: Wire EDM
• Lot 8: High Cycle Fatigue Tester

Target groups:

• SMEs
• Start-ups
• Companies
• Institutions
• Universities, R&D and Design Centers

The Inception phase of the Technical Assistance is completed in October 2023. The supply deliveries, installations and supplier trainings have been ongoing since January 2024.

Stay tunes for announcements on metal AM trainings for SMEs and professionals, networking and collaboration events!

OCU Team: OCU Director: Talat Durgut (SU ATT), Deputy OCUD: Devrim Ozaydin (SU IMC CTCE), Techn Leaders: Dr Serra Topal, Bora Gönül, Deputy Techn leader: İlayda Erkul

#additivemanufacturing #engineering #advancedtechnology #coldspray #aerospace #automotive #digitalmanufacturing

Our 1003 Research Project Is Completed!

Our large-scale 1003 project titled “The application and optimization of atmospheric plasma activation technique onto large-scale thermoset and thermoplastic composite adhesion systems using robotized multiple nozzle heads” is completed officially on 26th October 2023. The closure report was submitted on September 1st, 2023.

The project team included Dr. Serra Topal (Sabanci University IMC CTCE) as PI, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bertan Beylergil (Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University), Dr. Cem Öztürk (Kordsa A.S.), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burcu Saner Okan (Sabanci University) and 2 PhD and 2 MSc students.

Within the scope of the project,

• the effect of atmospheric plasma activation on the overlap regions of bonded systems for aerospace grade thermosetting and high Tg thermoplastics CFRPs are demonstrated on laboratory level
• CFRTP composites with AFP-production and autoclave consolidation are demonstrated, their ASTM standard coupon & bonded system testings are completed
• Low void content CF/PEI composite production with vacuum assisted hot press consolidation is succeeded and their ASTM standard coupon & bonded system tests are completed
• Thermoset- and thermoplastics-compatible adhesive film development and prototyping stages are completed, successful serial production is achieved
• Numerous research articles are submitted and published.

1. Yildirim C., Tabrizi I.E., Al-Nadhari A., Topal S., Beylergil B., Yildiz M., “Characterizing damage evolution of CF/PEKK composites under tensile loading through multi-instrument structural health monitoring techniques”, Composites: Part A, September 2023, 107817. DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2023.107817
2. Yildirim C., Ulus H., Beylergil B., Al-Nadhari A., Topal S., Yildiz M., “Effect of atmospheric plasma treatment on Mode-I and Mode-II fracture toughness properties of adhesively bonded carbon fiber/PEKK composite joints”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 289: July 2023, Article ID 109463. DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2023.109463

We would like to thank you to the team from the earliest stages of proposing, writing and conducting this project and the funding institution Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), its staff and our Project Office staff for their support.

Our 1001 Project on 3D woven composites is completed!

Our 3-year 1001 research project is closed in February 1st, 2023, which was funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkiye. Now it is time for the report submission, and dissemination activities which are not limited to: two ready-to-submit journal articles, and one submitted conference proceeding.

It was an enlightening experience for us to:

• design the 3D woven fabric architecture with TEX-TECH aiming for an increased performance in dynamic loadings up to 150 J impact
• investigate the novel damage behavior and sequence occurring in the inter-ply hybrid and intra-ply hybrid 3D woven composites under flexure loading
• work on advanced VARI to produce highly impregnated fabric
• conduct extensive meso-scale and macro-scale finite element analyses on the unit cells and tested components

Stay tuned for the updates and forthcoming papers and new projects on these materials to further extend the know-how!

#engineering #3dwoven #textilecomposites #impactperformance #aerospace

“The Fine Art of Correction -Why We Overestimate Setup”

“You are sitting on a plane from London to New York. How much of time is it sticking to the flight path, do you think? 90 percent of the time? 80 percent of the time? The correct answer is never. Sitting beside the window, gazing out at the edge of the wing, you can watch the jumpy little ailerons–they’re there to make constant adjustments to the flight path. Thousands of times per second, the autopilot recalculates the gap between where the plane is and where it should be and issues corrective instructions.

“Our lives work like a plane or a car. We’d rather they didn’t–that they ran according to the plan, foreseeable and undisturbed. Then we’d only have to focus on the set-up, the optimal starting point. We’d arrange things perfectly at the beginning–education, career, love life, family-and reach our goals as planned. Of course, as I’m sure you know, it doesn’t work like that. Our lives are exposed to constant turbulence, and we spend much of our time battling crosswinds and the unforeseen caprices of the weather. Yet we still behave like naïve fair-weather pilots: we overestimate the role of the set-up and systematically underestimate the role of correction.

“The art of auto-correction following take-off. After billions of years, nature knows it too. As cells divide, copying errors are perpetually being made in the genetic material, so in every cell there are molecules retroactively correcting these errors. Without this process of DNA repair, we’d die of cancer hours after conception. Our immune system follows the same principle. There’s no master plan, because threats are impossible to predict. Hostile viruses and bacteria are constantly mutating, and our defenses can only function through perpetual correction.

“The most common misunderstanding I encounter is that the good life is a stable state or condition. Wrong. The good life is only achieved through constant readjustment.

“In other areas, unfortunately, we’re even less willing to correct ourselves. Our school system is largely geared toward the set-up: the emphasis on the factual knowledge and certifications makes it seem like life is primarily about getting the best possible grades and giving our careers the best possible jump-start.

“The same phenomenon is apparent in the development of our characters. What do you think: was it the set-up–the perfect genes, an ideal upbringing, a first-class education- that made a person so wise? Or was it acts of correction, of constant work on their own issues and shortcomings, a gradual elimination of these inadequacies from their lives?

“The upshot? We’ve got to get rid of the stigma attached to correction. There’s no such thing as the ideal training. There’s more than one life goal. There’s no perfect business strategy, no optimal stock portfolio, no one right job. They’re all myths. The truth is that you begin with one set-up and then constantly adjust it. The more complicated the world becomes, the less important your starting point is. So don’t invest all your resources into the perfect set-up–at work or in your personal life. Instead, practice the art of correction by revising things that aren’t quite working–swiftly and without feeling guilty.”

Rolf Dobelli, The Art of the Good Life

Our research on nano-modified aircraft repair technologies is published in Carbon

I am very pleased to share the news that our research article on the improvement of the scarf repair performance of aircraft secondary structures with nanomaterials has been accepted and published in the CARBON journal.

I would like to thank Professor Mehmet Yildiz and Dr. Serkan Unal, engineers and staff of our Sabanci University Composite Technologies Centre of Excellence laboratories, our PhD fellows and interns, Turkish Airlines Technic structural repair unit engineers and staff, Kordsa Inc., and our collaborative partner RWTH Aachen University for making this project real.

#nanomaterials #aerospaceindustry #aerospace #engineering #cfrp #composites #cnt #graphene #nanotechnology #prepregtechnologies #compositerepair #repairandmaintenance

Feel free to access the paper here: 10.1016/j.carbon.2022.12.056

“Automated Repair Patch Production for Composites” project has been completed!

ARP2 project which was a dual collaboration of Sabanci University in Turkey and RWTH Aachen University in Germany has been completed (June 2017-2020) and its final report is accepted.

The project provided a rich insight in CFRP repair in accordance with Structural Repair Guidelines and allowed us to experience the repair of primary and secondary components of aircraft in their real implementation environment thanks to Turkish Airlines Technic, in Sabiha Gokcen Airport area. Along with the project 1 undergraduate intern, 1 undergraduate student, 2 graduate interns, 1 MSc student gained hands-on experience on composite repair, 2 MSc. students graduated within the scope of this project, 2 PhD students actively participated in nanomaterial functionalization  and 3 postdocs participated in various work packages. A pilot-scale nano-integration unit was constructed and actively used for providing master batch for the nano-modified carbon fibre reinforced thermoset prepreg production line of Kordsa A.S. After the pandemic, it was possible to transfer this know-how to the Sabanci University Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Application and Research Center (SU IMC) – Composite Technologies Center of Excellence (CTCE), for the completion of aircraft repair procedures in the lab infrastructures.

Further, significant efforts were given to automatize the ply-by-ply engraving of the CFRPs with KUKA robot at the SU IMC research center with high precision with limited time constraints, which was also performed by RWTH Aachen University simultaneously.

The corresponding research articles are being prepared for publication for further exploitation of the results to the scientists, researchers and other end-users. Many thanks to our researchers, students, our collaborators Kordsa A.S. and its project leaders, Turkish Technic and aircraft structural repair unit leader, atelier leaders and technicians; and the administrative-technical staff at the SU IMC CTCE for their efforts, valuable recommendations and patience.

November 2020

Bildung – Building yourself & achieving your own-self

Hegel says “Human being can achieve what he is supposed to be only with ‘Bildung’.” It is a vital concept in German culture life. This word origins directly from German, unlike many European languages which are connected to Latin, which enables development of an original philosophy. This makes the translation of the word to other languages rather difficult.

The root of the word includes ‘picture, image, shape’ (Bild). With the ending -ung, the word gains a meaning “to be, become”. The verb bilden, having the same origin, means to shape and form something. Today, it has a narrow meaning: education, however the conceptual historian Reinhart Koselleck gives the limits of its meaning perfectly: Bilduing is neither Ausbildung (education), nor Einbildung (imagery). And he defines 19th century as Bildung Age.

With its limits defined, Bildung can be defined in a single expression as, the name of the process of achieving the potential and autonomy of a person who unites the external (Aus-) influences with his inner (Ein-) world. 

Bildung has also o theological origin, backing to the Christian belief that God created (bilden) human in His image (Bild). Although the concept did not had a religious reference in the following centuries, it continued carrying the metaphysical perception. Indeed, Herder stated that “Every human being has an image (Bild) inside him about what he is now and will become in the future.”

Those who shaped themselves and acquired Bildung (gebildet) shall also shape the society, so as to make Bildung functional. This process  cannot be declared as “begins and ends within a person”. Further, Wilhem von Humboldt claimed that “the origins of Bildung lay deep inside the soul, and it can only be provoked with external influences and can never be fully revealed.”

translated from a thread of Istanbul University Department of Sociology official Twitter account

Citations page being updated – Stay safe & healthy during COVID-19

Recent citations to my articles are being added to my Citations page (with their DOI links) for further dissemination of knowledge for global researchers and students.

As many countries and people have been suffering severely from novel Corona virus 2019 (COVID-19) since January 2020, I am wishing health and safety to everyone and their families in all countries, and feeling the overwhelming gratitude for the medics and other supporting workers in the health sector at these difficult times.

CLOSED: 1 PhD position on “Experimental analysis of advanced 3D woven hybrid composites”

This position is now closed. 31 January, 2020

1 PhD position on “Experimental Analysis of Advanced 3D Woven Hybrid Composites” 

The scientific research project will be headed by Dr. Serra Topal (Sabanci University), and includes Dr. Hatice Sinem Sas Cayci (Sabanci University) and Dr. Adnan Kefal (Istanbul Technical University), and be conducted in Sabanci University Composite Technologies Center of Excellence (Istanbul). The project duration is 3 years.

Topic

3D woven fabric materials have recently attracted significant attention in the science and technology area, as they offer superior resistance to delamination compared to their 2D woven or unidirectional fibre reinforced composite counterparts. Only recently, 3D woven carbon composite fan blades were designed for the next generation GE engines in aircrafts. To date, progress toward 3D woven fabric reinforced polymeric composites is still hampered by the deficient knowledge on their predictive models and structure-property relationships under various loading conditions.

Tasks: 

• Production of 3D woven hybrid composites with low void contents
• Dynamic mechanical testing

Required: 

• Bachelor’s/Master degree in: material science, chemistry, physical chemistry, mechanical engineering, or aerospace engineering
• Excellent written and oral communication/presentation skills in English
• Basic knowledge of materials science
• Dedicated applicant with clear goals in academic career

Advantageous:

• Interest in 3D woven composite production with hybrid textiles
• Interest in dynamic experimental analysis of composites
• Interest in process modeling of woven composite materials

What we offer

• Highly stimulating interdisciplinary environment with unique access to state-of-the-art production, characterization and testing tools of composite materials, cutting edge research facilities and collaborations at IMC CTCE
• Work place at the CTCE located close to the international Sabiha Gokcen Airport of Turkey’s historical city Istanbul, which is a large, tolerant and cosmopolitan city offering a wide variety of culture, art, music, and outdoor opportunities
• Campus located 20 minutes shuttle distance to the research center, including opportunities to accommodation, health and social services

Your application
Interested candidates should submit their:

1- curriculum vitae listing education, research experience,  work experience, career breaks (if any), published publications (unpublished work will not be considered), contact info (max. 5 pages, Word/PDF)

2- a statement on their motivation for joining the group and their career objective (max. 1 page, Word/PDF)

Copies of academic transcripts, and names/contacts of two references might be required in the forthcoming stages.

Please do not email any other staff member in the institute. Applications will be archived by the job poster.

Dr. Serra Topal
Sabanci University

CLOSED: 1 PhD Position in: 3-year TUBITAK Aeronautics&Aerospace Research Project

1 PhD position on “Atmospheric Plasma Activation as an innovative, economic, environment-friendly method to improve the mechanical bonding properties of high-performance thermosetting and thermoplastic carbon-fibre reinforced composites”

The scientific research project will be headed by Dr. Serra Topal (Sabanci University/SU), and includes Dr. Bertan Beylergil (Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University/ALKU) and Dr. Cem Ozturk (Kordsa Inc.) together with Dr. Burcu Saner Okan (SU), and be conducted in SU Composite Technologies Center of Excellence (CTCE, Istanbul). The project duration is 3 years.

The topic

Atmospheric plasma activation (APA) is an innovative method for surface treatment to prepare the metallic/composite surfaces especially for bonding with adhesives, which offers unmatched advantages in aerospace&aeronautics applications compared to mechanical bonding techniques. This project aims to apply APA on high performance thermosetting and thermoplastic CFRPs, both in small-scale parametric studies and large-scale with the integration of multiple nozzles on robotic arm.

Required: all PhD applicants

• Bachelor’s or Master degree in: materials science, chemistry, polymer chemistry, physical chemistry, mechanical engineering, or aerospace engineering
• Excellent written an oral communication/presentation skills in English
• Good knowledge of materials science

CLOSED: 1 PhD applicant: “Robotic integration, composite production” (to study with Dr. Lutfi Taner Tunc, SU) (“PhD-3”)

• Good knowledge on machine dynamics, robotics, kinematics
• Basic knowledge in fibre-reinforced polymeric composites

CLOSED: 1 PhD applicant: “Chemical studies and adhesive development” (to study with Dr. Burcu Saner Okan, SU) (“PhD-4”)

• Good knowledge/experience in polymer chemistry and lab processes
• Interest in developing chemical formulations/compounds/adhesives from epoxies

OPEN: 1 PhD applicant: “Production and mechanical testing of CFRP thermosetting composites and their bonded joints” (to study with Dr. Mehmet Yildiz, SU) (“PhD-1”)

• Good knowledge/experience in polymer chemistry and lab processes
• Interest in producing thermosetting composites with vacuum infusion and surface treatment with innovative atmospheric plasma technology

What we offer

• Highly stimulating interdisciplinary environment with unique access to state-of-the-art production, characterization and testing tools of composite materials, cutting edge research facilities and collaborations at IMC CTCE

Your application
Interested candidates should submit their:

1- curriculum vitae listing education, research experience,  work/project experience, career breaks (if any), published publications (if any; unpublished ones will not be considered), contact info (max. 5 pages, PDF)

2- cover letter (max. 1 page, PDF) Please state which profile you are applying: “PhD-3” or “PhD-4”.

Copies of academic transcripts, and names/contacts of two references might be required in the forthcoming stages.

Please do not email any other staff member in the institute. Applications will be evaluated by a Committee.

Dr. Serra Topal
Sabanci Univiersity