Dr. Nishant Sinha

Boeing Research & Technology - India

E-mail id: Nishant.k.sinha[at]boeing.com

Brief Bio-sketch:

Dr. Nishant Sinha is a Research Scientists at Boeing Research and Technology, India and works in the area of composites and additive manufacturing. His research interests are in application of multi-scale modeling and simulation for materials and process development. Prior to Boeing, he was with Dassault Systemes working in the area of material science modeling. He holds a Ph.D. in the area of computational catalysis from the University of Virginia.

PREDICTING THE IN-SERVICE LIFETIME OF POLYMERS: A MULTI-SCALE MODELING APPROACH

Materials development is a long drawn process and evaluation of various emerging materials for synthesis, processing, properties, and lifing requires considerable investment of time, effort, and costs. In recent years, there is increasing motivation to develop and apply computational approaches to accelerate specific aspects of materials development.

This study describes a current research effort dealing with the assessment of thermo-oxidative stability and mechanical response of high performance polymers (Polyimides) in their service-like environments. Specifically, first principles quantum chemical calculations are used to analyze all the possible degradation pathways, developing a micro-kinetic model for degradation profiles, and finite element models to predict aging. The calculations give insights on the most susceptible sites within the polymer for oxidation, the degradation 'effective free energy barriers' and predictive lifetimes. This methodology may be extended to other materials of interest, to predict relative stability of various polymeric materials, and develop modifications to the chemical structure for greater stability and performance.