Short BIO

Dr. Serra Topal  is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Sabanci University Integrated Manufacturing Technologies Research and Application Center (SU IMC) & Composite Technologies Center of Excellence (CTCE), Istanbul, Turkey. She received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering at Gazi University in 2002, and she acquired her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the same department in 2006 and 2013, respectively. She studied thermomechanical stress analysis of functionally graded materials (metal-ceramic FGMs) and conducted fracture analysis of polymeric graded materials (PGMs), a precursor for additive manufacturing, including various computational methods such as J-integral and Displacement Correlation Method (DCT).

She visited the University of Surrey, United Kingdom for her postdoctoral studies during which she conducted her project on understanding and modeling of 3-D woven fabric composite materials. Her research included early- and late-stage fatigue analysis and finite element meso-scale modeling of the 3D non-crimp orthogonal woven composites.

Dr. Topal’s current research in Sabanci University include nano-integrated (graphene) resin and fabric systems together with methodologies for structural composite repair in commercial aviation. Additionally, one of her current scientific research projects focus on atmospheric plasma activation of composites for enhanced bonding systems, and high performance thermoplastics for aerospace applications. Her other project focuses on hybrid 3D woven composites for advanced applications.

Keywords: 2D & 3D woven composites, textile composites, Graphene, nano-integration, nanocomposites, repair of composites, FEA & simulations, multiscale modeling, functionally graded materials (FGMs), fracture mechanics, J-integral method, polymeric graded materials (PGMs)