Postdoctoral Scholar
Linkedin Profile
Email: carineh.ghafafian@usc.edu
Office: 213-740-3721
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
VHE-416
3651 Watt Way
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Research Projects
+ Mechanical properties of composite repairs
+ Fatigue behavior of scarf joints
+ Non-destructive testing of composites
+ Failure mechanisms of composites
+ Sustainable composite application solutions
Publications
+ C. Ghafafian, V. Trappe. Prolonging structural integrity – Fatigue of scarf repairs for wind turbine blade shell applications. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing2023, 107419. DOI
+ C. Ghafafian, B. Popiela, V. Trappe. Failure Mechanisms of GFRP Scarf Joints under Tensile Load. Materials2021, 14, 1806. DOI
Education
+ Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Technical University Berlin (2022)
+ M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Irvine (2016)
+ B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University (2014)
Conference Papers
+ C. Ghafafian, V. Trappe. “Fully-reversed Fatigue Behavior of Scarf Joint Repairs for Wind Turbine Blade Shell Applications,” 20th European Conference on Composite Materials (ECCM20) Proceedings, 2022
+ D. Schumacher, D. Ou, C. Ghafafian, U. Zscherpel, V. Trappe. “Wind turbine rotor blade testing by dual-energy laminography,” International Symposium on Digital Industrial Radiology and Computed Tomography (DIR) Proceedings, 2019
+ C. Ghafafian, B. Popiela, D. Nielow, V. Trappe. “Restoration of structural integrity – a comparison of various repair concepts for wind turbine rotor blade shells,” 5th International Conference on Smart Monitoring, Assessment and Rehabilitation of Civil Structures (SMAR) Proceedings, 2018
Awards
+ Manfred-Fricke Foundation Scholarship for Doctoral Research, Technical University Berlin (2021)
+ 1st Place in Brandenburg Regional FameLab 3-Minute Research Presentation Competition, “Rotor Blade First Aid” (2018)
Positions
+ 2023-Present: Postdoctoral Scholar – Research Associate, Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of California
+ 2017-2022: Research Assistant, Polymer Matrix Composites Division, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
+ 2017: Visiting Lecturer, Gyumri Technology Center, Course: Mechanical Behavior of Materials
+ 2016-2017: Senior Specialist, Outside Plant Network Design Engineer, Technology Development Program, AT&T