Analysis and selection of composite material for the manufacture of products during the design preparation stage

In this article, we set out to analyse and select new materials at the design preparation stage for the manufacture of composite products to replace conventional structural metals. In the study, a multi-criteria analysis of multivariate systems based on matrix analysis was used. For comparative examination, the well-known reference data, recommendations based on the scientific research of materials, as well as technical, economic and qualitative data of forming methods for these materials, were used, taking into account their specific properties. A comparative analysis was carried out for eight different materials used for the design of polymer composite products, aiming to replace conventional structural materials under three comparability conditions. The first condition considers all selected physical and mechanical properties of the materials and their costs. The second condition emphasises the ultimate strength of the material, its elastic modulus and cost. The third condition is partially similar to the second condition, with the exception of the compressive strength. It was established that the most rational composite for the product design under the first and second conditions is a basalt fibre-reinforced polymer, with the highest weight criterion coefficient (q) of 0.3947 in the first case and 0.3955 in the second case. For the third condition of comparability, carbon fibre was found to be the optimal composite material with the highest q value of 0.3341. The methodology allows product materials, tool materials, cutting regimes and tool geometry to be analysed and selected based on the accumulated knowledge base derived from empirical research. The developed methodology was tested under the three comparability conditions. Theoretical studies showed that the use of the methodology could increase the efficiency of pre-production by 2–3 times, depending on the complexity of the evaluated system.