University of Michigan survey supports composites decarbonization practices

University of Michigan Ph.D. student Zhuoer Li is conducting a survey study on fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) material flow analysis to help identify the challenges and opportunities in composites manufacturing decarbonization. Composite industry professionals are encouraged to participate.

To identify the challenges faced by today’s decarbonization efforts and opportunities available to reduce the environmental impacts, Li, co-advised by professors Daniel Cooper and Mihaela Banu, is performing a study to map material flow and energy consumption along the global FRP composite supply chain using a statistical inference approach. Given the industry’s broad and complex nature, as well as the lack of a high-level database, quantifying the environmental impact at an industry level has been difficult.

This survey aims to gather expert opinions on key aspects of FRP composites, including five types of fibers, 17 types of resins, 12 manufacturing processes, nine industry sectors and four types of waste management options for manufacturing scraps (expertise is not required in all these areas and you will be able to choose your area of expertise as part of the survey). Insights collected will be used to inform a Bayesian inference model to better understand and predict material efficiency and energy consumption in the industry, and guide discussions around most crucial practices that can be made to cut down its environmental impact.

The survey should take approximately 10-60 minutes to complete. It consists of a series of questions requiring quantitative responses. Specifically, the responses are in the form of probability distributions. (Please refer to the example question in the survey for details and instructions.) All responses will be anonymous and kept confidential and will be used solely for academic research purposes. Results will be anonymized in any publications or presentations.

This is an ongoing survey. Please visit this link to complete it.

For additional questions about the survey or project, reach out to Zhuoer Li at lze@umich.edu.