Advanced Composite Technologies in the Automotive, Petroleum, and Civil Infrastructure Industries

Featuring Dr. H. Felix Wu
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Location: EG E3161

Abstract:
Composite materials are strong, lightweight, and corrosion resistant, as well as expensive to manufacture and not widely used in large-scale industrial applications. In 1994, the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) undertook a program focused on composite manufacturing in order to trigger the creation of high-performance manufacturing infrastructure for commercial composite parts. From 1994 to 2000, ATP invested $67 million, along with industry partners who invested $70 million, in 22 high technical risk projects under the focused program, “Manufacturing Composite Structures.” To assess the economic and societal benefits from ATP-funded projects for composite manufacturing, a cluster-study approach was used to combine the methodological advantages of detailed case studies and high-level overview studies. Five projects were selected for analysis, spanning automotive, offshore oil production, and civil infrastructure applications. Within the cluster of five projects, two projects with the best near-term prospects for commercial deployment were selected for detailed case studies.

Based on primary research and analysis, the cluster study estimates exceptional returns on ATP’s investment in five composites manufacturing projects:

Benefit-to-cost ratios on ATP’s investment raging from 83:1 to 92:1
Net present value of ATP’s investment ranging from $892 to $994 million
Public rates of return on ATP’s investment ranging from 44 to 46 percent.

These measures reflect the estimated benefits to industry users and the general public relative to the ATP investment. Estimated benefits to direct recipients of ATP funding are excluded. Additional qualitative benefits are reported, including automotive quality improvements, energy production benefits, reduced harmful environmental emissions, and lower levels of traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. Research performed for this study indicated that ATP’s industry partners would not have developed high-risk, low-cost composite manufacturing technologies without ATP support and without ATP facilitation of broad-based industrial joint ventures. The study concludes that the above benefits are directly attributable to ATP’s investment.

About the Speaker:

Dr. H. Felix Wu holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University. He has more than 16 years work experience in industry and nine years of project/program management experience in Federal government, with broad-based expertise in high-performance fibers, polymers, composite materials/structures, and engineering mechanics. He joined the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a Program Manager in July 1997.

Dr. Wu has managed 49 ATP-funded R&D projects, working with various industries (automotive, offshore exploration & production, civil infrastructure, metals/ceramics, and life sciences), as well as several NIST Intramural Funding Research projects where areas are in Nanotechnology and Public Safety and Security. Prior to joining ATP/NIST, Dr. Wu was a Sr. Project Leader at the Owens Corning Science and Technology Center and a Sr. Project Manager at the Alcoa Technical Center. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University since 1999.  He is a Fellow of U.S. Department of Commerce Science and Technology, and a Fellow of The Ohio Academy of Science.