Design SuperiorMaterials Fast WithPhysics-Driven Simulation
Describe the material you want. Backbond finds the chemistry and the process that hit every requirement at once: stiffness, impact, weathering, cost, and more…
Trial and error, balancing many conflicting requirements
The project
A new R&D project is defined.
The targets
Target properties are defined, and they conflict. Fixing one ruins another.
The search
Millions of candidate builds, because every chemistry can be coated, blended and laid up in many ways. With tooling and prototypes, only a few are ever made.
The risk
A material that works is only the start. These three are targets of their own, optimised for last when the build is hardest to change. Any one can end the program.
Backbond co-optimizes for all the targets simultaneously
- Body weight
- Define a Number
- Stiffness
- Define a Number
- Impact resistance
- Define a Number
- Water resistance
- Define a Number
- UV stability
- Define a Number
Define
The product, the targets it must hit, and the parameters to change: fibre and filler mix, core and wall, coating chemistry, cure schedule.
Simulate
Backbond simulates all possible combinations and evaluates every one, chemistry and build together.
Rank
The candidate builds are ranked by promise and confidence, and those are not the same thing.
Test
The team proceeds to the coupon and the moulded prototype with the most promising builds. By default, these satisfy all targets and constraints.
Simulation removes the reformulation loops, and those are where the years go. Ageing still has to be witnessed, and no software makes five years pass faster.
How Backbond simulates a design candidate
Four levels of physics decide what a material actually does, and Backbond reasons about how all four interplay to set every spec.
A few example use cases
Every one is the same shape: a handful of targets that fight each other, and one material that has to hit them all.
01Weight against stiffness
A moulded body must lose 15% of its weight and keep its first mode clear of the motors. Find the layup, core thickness and rib pattern that hold the stiffness, while keeping impact resistance and cost.
02Heat off the chip
A thermal interface must move a kilowatt off an accelerator and survive ten thousand power cycles in the rack. Find the matrix, filler network and bond line that hold the conductance, while keeping compliance, pump-out resistance and cost.
03Fluorine-free performance
A seal must match PTFE's chemical resistance before the restriction lands, and requalify without a new mould. Find the backbone, filler and cure that hold the resistance, while keeping compression set, temperature range and cost.
04Silicon in the anode
An anode must take 20% silicon and survive its swelling for a thousand cycles. Find the binder, particle coating and electrolyte additive that hold the capacity, while keeping adhesion, calendering and cost.
05Containing a runaway cell
A pack must hold one cell in thermal runaway for five minutes without the cell beside it going. Find the barrier chemistry, thickness and compression set that hold the flame, while keeping weight, pack volume and cost.
06Laminates for the next serial rate
A backplane must carry the next data rate without the laminate eating the signal. Find the resin, glass and copper profile that hold the loss budget, while keeping drill quality, moisture uptake and cost.
07Metal bonded to composite
A body must bond aluminium to composite, come through the paint oven, and hold for ten years of road salt. Find the adhesive chemistry, surface preparation and cure that hold the joint, while keeping cycle time, repairability and cost.
08Hand feel in bio-based leather
A plant-based leather must feel like the nappa it replaces. Find the binder, plasticiser and emboss that hold the hand, while keeping tensile strength, flex endurance and cost.
09Holding 700 bar hydrogen
A vessel liner must hold hydrogen through fifteen thousand fill cycles without permeating. Find the polymer, barrier layer and interface that stop the loss, while keeping toughness at −40 °C, weight and cost.
10Packaging at panel scale
A panel-level package must come through reflow inside 100 µm of warpage. Find the mould compound, filler loading and cure schedule that match the expansion, while keeping dielectric loss, adhesion and throughput.