Supervisors: Dr. Liu Yang, University of Strathclyde and Dr. Paul Baker, Glasgow Caledonian University
PhD Student: Andrew Webley, University of Strathclyde
Status: Closed
The proposed project provides a timely opportunity to build on the existing research progress and our new industrial partnership with Blueshift to together address the critical issues raised above by extend the short-term feasibility study into a long-term research programme. The outcomes will enhance Blueshift’s competiveness in thermal insulation industry and will also lay the foundation for attracting larger external funding from public funding bodies. In alignment with Blueshift’s business strategy, the aim of this project is to design and develop strong and super-insulating aerogel composites utilising Blueshift’s polyimide aerogel for energy saving in Oil and Gas and Building industries.
In order to accomplish this aim the following objectives must be delivered:
1. Transfer state-of-the-art polyimide-aerogel fabrication techniques from Blueshift to Strathclyde and establish the appropriate aerogel fabrication capability at Strathclyde.
2. Develop a heat transfer and mechanical model for polyimide-aerogel composites to assist the design and product optimisation.
3. Validate the developed model using generated experimental data and propose design solution to manufacturing polyimide-aerogel composites.
4. Generate a better fundamental understanding of processing-structure-property relationships for both polyimide aerogel and fibre-aerogel composites.
5. Characterise the developed polyimide-aerogel composites and rank different design approaches.
6. Prototype polyimide-aerogel composites with specifications agreed by Blueshift and Strathclyde and transfer created knowledge and skills back to Blueshift.
A key strategic issue which the project will strive to address is:
How can new insights and concepts obtained from a focussed multi-disciplinary approach to these complex materials accelerate the development of cost-effective polyimide-aerogel composites for thermal insulation applications?
The methodology to be adopted for this project will be three-fold;
1) Develop a micro-scale model focusing on heat transfer and mechanical performance in polyimide-aerogel composites to predict key performance indices such as thermal conductivity and material strength and stiffness.
2) Generate a better fundamental understanding of processing-structure-property relationships for both polyimide aerogel and fibre-aerogel composites through experiments.
3) Rank and optimise design solutions through a series of iterative modifications based on the results from modelling and experiments.