Keynote Speakers

Abstract: Additively manufactured continuous fibre-reinforced composites display promising mechanical properties, making them a viable option for various engineering applications including aerospace and automotive. However, they face challenges such as relatively weak interlayer bonding and low strength compared with composites fabricated by traditional methods. Therefore, it is imperative to improve the mechanical performance of additively manufactured continuous fibre-reinforced composites (CFRCs). This paper presents an experimental investigation into the effects of nitrogen-purging (N₂-purging) during printing and annealing after printing on the tensile performance of additively manufactured CFRCs. Tensile tests were conducted on the Onyx reinforced with three different continuous fibre filaments, namely carbon fibre filaments (CFF), glass fibre filaments (GFF), and Kevlar fibre filaments (KFF). It was found that N₂-purging and post-annealing had different effects on the tensile properties of various CFRCs. Particularly, N₂-purging, post-annealing and their combination enhanced both the Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of KFF/Onyx specimens. Detailed microstructural and fracture surface analyses were performed to investigate the governing failure mechanisms. Additionally, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were also carried out to unveil the thermal behaviour and crystal structures affecting the mechanical properties of CFRCs.

Biography: Prof. Dong Ruan is currently the Chair for the Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology. She obtained her Bachelor and Master degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and PhD from Swinburne University of Technology. She has worked at Swinburne since 2005. Her research interests include: (1) additive manufacturing of continuous fibre reinforced composite materials and structures; (2) characterisation of the mechanical properties of various materials at high strain rates; (3) evaluation of the mechanical response of structures (such as multi-layered panels and tubes) under dynamic loadings. She has published over 270 academic papers with over 10,000 citations. Dong is Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust). She is an Associate Editor of Engineering Structures (Q1 journal) and an Editorial Advisory Board member of International Journal of Impact Engineering (Q1 journal), and -Walled Structures (Q1 journal). She received two national awards: Eureka Prize in 2013 as a team member of DMTC's Armour Applications Program in the Safeguarding Australia category and AGM Michell Medal from the Institution of Engineers Australia in 2022.

Abstract: 3D printing technology facilitates the manufacturing of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite components with complex geometries, providing exceptional design freedom that overcomes the shape limitations inherent in conventional manufacturing approaches. However, due to the transient, low-pressure nature of thermoplastic composite 3D printing, the fabricated parts frequently exhibit poor interlayer adhesion, high porosity, and substantial warpage deformation, resulting in significantly compromised mechanical performance relative to traditionally manufactured counterparts. To date, there exists a critical gap in composite structural design methodologies and processing techniques specifically adapted for 3D printing characteristics.
To overcome these challenges, this report systematically addresses three key aspects:
(1) This report details several innovative topology optimization methods for 3D-printed composite structures approaches: manufacturing-constrained topology optimization frameworks specifically developed for 3D-printed composites, and a novel multi-level optimization strategy for designing load-bearing and functional composite structures.
(2) This report demonstrates an advanced multi-axis robotic 3D printing system capable of processing both continuous and short fiber-reinforced composites. The research establishes a comprehensive methodology for printing pressure measurement and calculation, while systematically investigating the effects of key process parameters on both printing pressure and product quality. Furthermore, a coupled thermo-mechanical model of the printing process is discussed.
(3) The report discusses several advanced applications of 3D Printing Technology, including bio-inspired interface-toughening structures, process-controlled bioinspired structures with alternating strong-weak layers, and induction-heated lattice-reinforced thin-walled structures.

Biography: Prof. Kunkun Fu is currently working as Deputy Dean of the School of Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics at Tongji University, P.R. China. He was awarded a national early-career scientist fellowship in 2018 after he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales Canberra. Prof. Fu’s major research interests include the failure mechanics of composite structures and additive manufacturing of fiber reinforced composites. He has strong expertise in numerical modelling of composite structures in various engineering areas in particularly under extreme conditions such as lightning strike and impact. So far, he has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal publications and served as the editorial members of several journals, the committee member of the Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, the executive committee member of Shanghai Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and the committee member of Shanghai Society of Composite Materials.

Abstract: Data-driven methods based on machine learning (ML) are increasingly being used for constitutive modeling of advanced aerospace materials, including metallic alloys and fiber-reinforced composites. However, their reliance on extensive datasets has hindered further development. To address this limitation, we propose an innovative mechanics-informed ML approach to predict the elastoplastic behavior and anisotropic features using small training datasets. For elastoplastic metallic materials, a novel strain reconfiguration strategy is proposed to improve the learning capability and predictability of the data-driven model, along with a two-step training method. A compatible numerical implementation algorithm is developed to incorporate the data-driven approach into a finite element calculation. This method is applied to learn and predict the mechanical response of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy under multiple loading conditions, including tension, compression, shear and impact loads. For orthotropic composites, we establish a decomposition and equivalence method for stress-strain tensors. Two independent artificial neural networks are employed to capture the deviatoric behavior and the volumetric-fiber coupling behavior, respectively. Additionally, an incremental algorithm is introduced to map the one-dimensional scalar stress back to the three-dimensional stress tensor. The proposed model is validated using a dataset generated by direct numerical simulation of a representative volume element (RVE) of composites, and further applied to the simulation of textile composites. The consistency between the constitutive model and the data highlights the advantages of the proposed approaches: integrating mechanics with ML significantly enhances predictive accuracy, even with limited data.

Biography: Dr. Zhang is Professor and Ph.D. supervisor for the School of Civil Aviation, Northwestern Polytechnical University. His research direction lies in the fields of multi-scale mechanics of composite materials, impact dynamics, and strength of aerospace engines structures. Dr. Zhang has awarded more than 20 scientific research projects (5 from NSFC). He is recipient of the National High-level Talent Youth Program, Shaanxi Youth Scientist Award and National Outstanding Young Scholar in Explosive Mechanics et al. Dr. Zhang has published more than 150 journal papers, with Google Citations over 5400. He serves as editorial board member for several scientific journals, e.g. Compos Struct, Acta Mechan Sin, Chin J Aeronaut, J Aero Eng et al., and active members of the Chinese Society for Composite Materials and The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.

Abstract: Vibration and noise control have been realized by using phononic crystals and acoustic metamaterials. However, these methods have been always suffering from some fundamental limitations including narrow working bandwidth and large volume. How to realize broadband vibration and noise control in a small footprint has been a challenge. Recently, as a booming branch of metamaterials, a new kind of artificial structure named metasurface has provided feasible solutions. As a 2D mapping of metamaterial, metasurface has enabled extraordinary wavefront manipulation with compact and lightweight structure of sub-wavelength scale. In this work, we have proposed a series of ultrathin metasurfaces for extraordinary elastic-wave manipulations, including omnidirectional isolation, “one-way” propagation and highly-efficient routing. The present work extends the strategy for wave and vibration control in elastodynamics and acoustics.

Biography: Dr. Bing Li is a full professor in the School of Aeronautics at Northwestern Polytechnical University. His current research interests include dynamics of elastic/mechanical metamaterials/metasurfaces, wave mechanics, vibration and noise control, nondestructive testing. He has published >100 scientific papers in top-tier peer-reviewed journals and renowned international conferences such as Nature Communications, Compos. Sci. Tech., Compos. Part A, Compos. Part B, Phys. Rev. Appl., Phys. Rev. B, J. Sound Vib., etc., >20 issued or pending patents, >40 invited presentations. Dr. Li is an Associate Editor/Editor Board Member/Topical Advisory Panel Member for five scientific journals. He has received a series of awards and honors, including Distinguished Expert of Chinese “Oversea Young Talents Program” (2020), The Youth Talent Program of Northwestern Polytechnical University (2018), the Fellow of IAAM (2023), Science and Technology Award of Shaanxi Higher Education (First place, 2021, 2025), etc.

Abstract: Advanced materials and structures are the material basis and technological forerunners for the development of fields such as aerospace, transportation, and wind turbine blades. In complex service environments, loads such as explosion shock have characteristics such as time instability, high strain rate, and strong discontinuity. Composite materials and structures integrate mesoscopic phenomena such as deformation, damage and failure of heterogeneous materials like metal dislocations, polymer chain movements and fiber slip/fracture, demonstrating remarkable cross-scale interdisciplinary characteristics. The presenter have achieved several progress in the dynamic mechanical behavior of composite materials and structures. The presentation will focus on three aspects: the prediction of buckling failure and the design of strengthening and toughening of curved thin-walled structures, the cross-scale construction of flat composite laminates and the constitutive model of composite materials, and the microscopic mechanism of nanoscale surface and interface forces and high-speed collision/penetration.

Biography: Sun Weifu, Young Chair Professor at Southeast University, has published over 120 SCI papers. Among them, as the first or corresponding author he has published 94 articles in international journals including in Compos.Part A/B, Compos. Sci. Technol., Adv. Func. Mater. (61 articles as the first or corresponding author in the past five years). The presenter has applied for one US invention patent and 15 Chinese patents as the first author, among which five invention patents have been authorized, and has participated in the compilation of one national standard. The research achievements have been widely cited by renowned scholars from over 30 countries (including more than 30 academicians from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia, as well as over 10 presidents/fellows of international academic societies and chief editors of journals), with a total of 1,533 non-self citations He has been included in the list of the top 2% of global scientists in 2024. He has presided over more than 10 scientific research projects, including the National Key Research and Development Program and general project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has successively received honors such as the National High-level Young Talent Award, the Outstanding Young Scholar Award of the International Conference on Computing and Experimental Science and Engineering, and the National Outstanding Young Scholar Award in Explosion Mechanics.

Abstract: Polyetherimide (PEI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polysulfone (PSU), and other thermoplastic resins are classified as special engineering plastics due to their excellent mechanical properties, wear resistance, heat resistance, and long-term service temperatures exceeding 150°C, which have wide applications in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and other demanding fields. To further enhance the overall performance of these special engineering plastics, short fibers are commonly incorporated. Currently, the primary methods for preparing short fiber-reinforced composites based on special engineering plastics are melt blending extrusion followed by injection molding. However, a significant limitation of this conventional process is the resulting short retained fiber length in the composites, which severely compromises their mechanical properties. To address this issue, the influences of preparation process parameters on the mesostructure of the composites have been systematically investigated. This led to the proposal of a novel composite preparation technology designed to achieve high retained fiber length. Based on this technology, short fiber-reinforced PEI composites were developed, demonstrating a 50% increase in tensile strength and Young’s modulus compared to traditional composites produced via extrusion and injection molding. Furthermore, the mechanical properties—including tensile and flexural behavior—and service performance of injection-molded PEI composites under various temperature environments were systematically investigated. This work revealed the interfacial failure mechanisms of SCF/PEI at different temperatures. The potential of these injection-molded PEI composites for use as load-bearing components was explored. Additionally, their friction and wear characteristics under service conditions, such as dry contact, water lubrication, and oil lubrication, were comprehensively studied. Moreover, the high-performance injection-molded composites developed have found successful application in aerospace, defense and other fields.

Biography: Dr. Li is a Professor at College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University. He has worked in the research fields of polymer matrix composites for aerospace, smart composites, composite mechanics, and published more than 170 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including 120 first author and/or corresponding author papers. His research work received good attention by the international community, his total citations based on the Scopus is more than 10000 times with an h-index 53. He also holds more than 10 patents, and published 5 book chapters. He is currently the Academic Editor and Editorial Board Member of Nano Materials Science, Member of Nano-Micro Composites Committee, Smart Composites Committee, Composites Health Monitoring Committee of Chinese Society for Composites. He has been listed in the World’s Top 2% Scientists lists by Stanford University on Elsevier in Career-long Impact list since 2023 and Single-year Impact since 2021.