COMPOSITE MATERIAL

A combination of two or more materials to form

a new material system with enhanced material
properties

Reinforcement + Matrix = Composite

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 WHAT ARE COMPOSITES?

Composites: A combination of two or more materials

(reinforcement, resin, filler, etc.), differing in form or
composition on a macroscale. The constituents retain their
identities, i.e.., they do not dissolve or merge into each
other, although they act in concert. Normally, the
components can be physically identified and exhibit an
interface between each other.
Composites: Design materials with properties better
than those of conventional materials (metals,
ceramics, or polymers).
Composites: are combinations of two materials in which
one of the materials, called the reinforcing phase, is in the
form of fibers, sheets, or particles, and is embedded in the
other materials called the matrix phase. The reinforcing
material and the matrix material can be metal, ceramic, or
polymer.
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 PHASES OF COMPOSITES
 Matrix Phase: Polymers, Metals,
Ceramics
Also, continuous phase, surrounds other
phase (e.g.: metal, ceramic, or polymer)
 Reinforcement Phase: Fibers, Particles,
or Flakes
Also, dispersed phase, discontinuous
phase (e.g.: metal, ceramic, or
polymer)

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 FACTORS IN CREATING COMPOSITES
 Factors in creating composites:
– Matrix material
– Reinforcement material

 → control
or design
properties

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 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOSITES
Composite materials are commonly classified at following
two distinct levels:
1. The first level of classification: is usually made with respect
to the matrix constituent. The major composite classes
include Organic Matrix Composites (OMCs), Metal Matrix
Composites (MMCs) and Ceramic Matrix Composites
(CMCs). The term organic matrix composite is generally
assumed to include two classes of composites, namely
Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) and carbon matrix
composites commonly referred to as carbon-carbon
composites.
2. The second level of classification: refers to the
reinforcement form - fibre reinforced composites, laminar
composites and particulate composites. Fibre reinforced
composites can be further divided into those containing
discontinuous or continuous fibres.
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CLASSIFICATION BASED ON MATRIX PHASE

The matrix phase of fibrous composites

may be a metal, polymer, or ceramic. In
general, metals and polymers are used as
matrix materials because some ductility is
desirable; for ceramic-matrix composites the
reinforcing component is added to improve
fracture toughness

Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC)/Carbon

Matrix Composites or Carbon- Carbon
Composites

Matrix Composites (MMC)

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Ceramic Matrix Materials (CMM)

 1.ROLE OF MATRIX
Role of Matrices in Composites
 Transfer stresses between the fibers.
 Provide a barrier against an adverse environment.
 Protect the surface of the fibers from mechanical
abrasion.
 Determine inter-laminar shear strength.
 Determine damage tolerance of composites.
 Determine in-plane shear strength.
 Determine the processibility of composites.
 Determine heat resistance of composites.

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 2.ROLE OF MATRIX
 The primary roles of the matrix alloy then are to provide
efficient transfer of load to the fibers and to blunt cracks in
the event that fiber failure occurs and so the matrix alloy
for continuously reinforced composites may be chosen
more for toughness than for strength.
 On this basis, lower strength, more ductile, and tougher
matrix alloys may be utilized in continuously
reinforced composites.
 For discontinuously reinforced composites, the
matrix may govern composite strength.
Then, the choice of matrix will be influenced by
consideration of the required composite strength
and higher strength matrix alloys may be required.

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 FUNCTIONS OF MATRIX
In a composite material, the matrix material serves
the following functions:
 Holds the fibres together.
 Protects the fibres from environment.
 Distributes the loads evenly between fibres so that all
fibres are subjected to the same amount of strain.
 Enhances transverse properties of a laminate.
 Improves impact and fracture resistance of a component.
 Helps to avoid propagation of crack growth through the
fibres by providing alternate failure path along the
interface between the fibres and the matrix.
 Carry interlaminar shear.

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POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES
(PMC)/CARBON MATRIX
COMPOSITES
 Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs) consist
of a polymer resin as the matrix, with fibers
as the reinforcement medium.

 Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP)

– Fibers (carbon or glass)
– Resins (epoxy matrix)

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 METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITES

 As the name implies, for metal-matrix

composites (MMCs) the matrix is a ductile
metal. These materials may be utilized at
higher service temperatures than their base
metal counterparts; furthermore, the
reinforcement may improve specific
stiffness, specific strength, abrasion
resistance, creep resistance, thermal
conductivity, and dimensional stability

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 CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES

 The fracture toughness of ceramics have

been improved significantly by the
development of a new generation of
ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs)
— particulates, fibers, or whiskers of one
ceramic material that have been embedded into
a matrix of another ceramic. Ceramic-matrix
composite materials have extended fracture
toughness to between about 6 and 20 MPa

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 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
REINFORCEMENTS

 Fiber Reinforced Composites/Fibre

Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites

 Laminar Composites

 Particulate Reinforced Composites (PRC)

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 FIBER REINFORCED
COMPOSITES/FIBRE REINFORCED
POLYMER (FRP) COMPOSITES

 Fibre Reinforced Composites

are composed of fibres embedded in matrix
material.
 Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP)
Composites:
"A matrix of polymeric material that is
reinforced by fibers or other reinforcing
material”

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 GLASS FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER
(GFRP) COMPOSITES

 Fiberglass is simply a composite consisting

of glass fibers, either continuous or
discontinuous, contained within a polymer
matrix

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CARBON FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER
(CFRP) COMPOSITES

 Carbon is a high-performance fiber material

that is the most commonly used
reinforcement in advanced (nonfiberglass)
polymer-matrix composites

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 ARAMID FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER
COMPOSITES

 Aramid fibers are high-strength, high-

modulus materials that were introduced in
the early 1970s. They are especially desirable
for their outstanding strength-to weight
ratios, which are superior to metals.

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 CARBON–CARBON COMPOSITES

 One of the most advanced and promising

engineering material is the carbon fiber
reinforced carbon-matrix composite, often
termed a carbon–carbon composite; as the
name implies, both reinforcement and matrix
are carbon.

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 HYBRID COMPOSITES

 A relatively new fiber-reinforced composite

is the hybrid, which is obtained by using
two or more different kinds of fibers in a
single matrix; hybrids have a better all
around combination of properties than
composites containing only a single fiber
type.

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 PARTICLE-REINFORCED COMPOSITES

 Particulate Composites: are composed of

particles distributed or embedded in a matrix
body. The particles may be flakes or in
powder form. Concrete and wood particle
boards are examples of this category.
 Large-particle and dispersion-
strengthened composites are the two sub
classifications of particle-reinforced
composites.

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 LARGE-PARTICLE AND DISPERSION-
STRENGTHENED COMPOSITES

 Concrete is a common large-particle

composite in which both matrix and
dispersed phases are ceramic materials.

 Metals and metal alloys may be strengthened

and hardened by the uniform dispersion of
several volume percent of fine particles of a
very hard and inert material. The dispersed
phase may be metallic or nonmetallic; oxide
materials are often used

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 LAMINAR COMPOSITES

 A laminar composite is composed of two-

dimensional sheets or panels that have a
preferred high-strength direction such as is
found in wood and continuous and aligned
fiber-reinforced plastics

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 COMMON CATEGORIES OF COMPOSITE
MATERIALS BASED ON FIBRE LENGTH
1. Fibers as the reinforcement (Fibrous Composites):
a. Random fiber (short fiber) reinforced
composites
b. Continuous fiber (long fiber) reinforced
composites

2. Particles as the reinforcement (Particulate

composites):

3. Flat flakes as the reinforcement (Flake

composites):

4. Fillers as the reinforcement (Filler composites):

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 CONTINUED……

1. Fibers as the reinforcement (Fibrous Composites):

a. Random fiber (short fiber) reinforced
composites

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 CONTINUED……

1. Fibers as the reinforcement (Fibrous Composites):

b. Continuous fiber (long fiber) reinforced
composites

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 CONTINUOUS
COMPOS Discontinuous
ITE Composite

Matrix (binder)

Aligned (random)
Reinforcement (fiber)

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 Continued……
2. Particles as the reinforcement
(Particulate composites):

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 Continued……
3. Flat flakes as the reinforcement (Flake
composites):

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 Continued……

4. Fillers as the reinforcement (Filler

composites):

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WHY COMPOSITES?

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