Luleå University of Technology (LTU, Sweden) is a higher education establishment with more than 1500 employees. For more than 10 years research on mechanisms governing the mechanical performance of composite materials on micro-meso- and macro-scale has been carried out both experimentally and theoretically within Dept of Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering. Research has focused on micro mechanics of fibre – matrix interaction in composites, damage evolution as well as on development of reliable test methodology for short fibre and fibre/matrix interface characterization. The research strategy is based on microscopy (optical and SEM) observations of phenomena and their micromechanical analysis using modelling and model experiments. Validation in macro tests includes anisotropic thermo-hydro-elastic elastic properties, characterization of strength in compression, tension and in shear, analysis of fracture toughness, fatigue, impact resistance and dimensional stability due to moisture and temperature. Developed material models of composites including the damage development effects and material time-dependent nonlinear viscoelastic, viscoplastic behaviour, as affected by temperature, moisture and other environmental conditions, are used in structural applications.

The role of LTU in the project is to coordinate research aspects in activities aimed to understand and use for optimization the relationship between constituent and manufacturing parameters and the quality of the composite as expressed through its initial imperfection state (voids, defects, collapsed fibres, bad interface) and to correlate the latter to mechanical performance of the material. These results will build the bases of the tool for composite optimization.