Mushtaq

What is Composite Material?

Any combination of two or more different materials
at the macroscopic level.
OR
Two inherently different materials that when
combined together produce a material with
properties that exceed the constituent materials.
Reinforcement phase (e.g., Fibers)
Binder phase (e.g., compliant matrix)

The use of natural composite materials has
been a part of man's technology since the
first ancient builder used straw to reinforce
mud bricks.

Israelites' use of chopped straw in their
brick
The Egyptian sarcophagi fashioned from
glued and laminated wood veneer and also
their use of cloth tape soaked in resin for
mummy embalming

The Etruscan "Sarcophagus of the Spouses", at
the National Etruscan Museum
The Mongol warriors' high-performance,
recurved archery bows of bullock tendon,
horn, bamboo strips, silk and pine resin,
which are 80% as strong as our modern
fibreglass bows

Chinese bamboo rockets reinforced with rope
wrappings
Japanese Samurai swords formed by the
repeated folding of a steel bar back on itself
The early fabrication of steel and of iron gun
barrels in Damascus
Roman artisans' use of ground marble in their
lime plaster, frescoes and pozzolanic mortar.

Applications
Automotive
Marine
Civil engineering
Space, aircraft and military
Sports

Classifications according to:
Matrices
Polymer
Thermoplastic
Thermoset
Metal
Ceramic
Others
Classifications
Fibers
Length
short fiber reinforced
continuous fiber reinforced
Composition
Single fiber type
Hybrid
Mechanical properties
Conventional
Flexible
Advantages
High strength to weight ratio
High stiffness to weight ratio
High fatigue resistance
No catastrophic failure
Low thermal expansion in fiber oriented directions
Resistance to chemicals and environmental factors
Disadvantages
Good properties in one direction and poor
properties in other directions.
High cost due to expensive material and
complicated fabrication processes.
Some are brittle, such as carbon fiber reinforced
composites.
Not enough data for safety criteria.


Mainly two components:
Fibers
Matrices
Fibers
Influences:
Specific gravity,
Tensile and compressive strength and
modulus,
Fatigue properties,
Electrical and thermal properties,
Cost.

Fibers
Fibers used in composites
Polymeric fibers such as
PE (Spectra 900, 1000)
PPTA: Poly(para-phenylene terephthalamide)
(Kevlar 29, 49, 149, 981, Twaron)
Polyester (Vectran or Vectra)
PBZT: Poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiozol)

Fibers
Inorganic fibers:
Glass fibers: S-glass and E-glass
Carbon or graphite fibers: from PAN and Pitch
Ceramic fibers: Boron, SiC, Al
2
O
3

Metal fibers: steel, alloys of W, Ti, Ni, Mo etc.
(high melting temperature metal fibers)


Most frequently used fibers
Glass
Carbon/graphite
PPTA (Kevlar, etc.)
Polyethylene (Spectra)
Polyester (Vectra)