Composite material
For the specic carbon and glass ber based composite Typical engineered composite materials include:
materials often referred to loosely as 'composites, see
Fiber-reinforced polymer. mortars, concrete
A Composite material (also called a composition
Reinforced plastics, such as ber-reinforced poly-
mer
Composites are formed by combining materials together to form
an overall structure with properties that dier from the sum of
the individual components
A black carbon ber (used as a reinforcement component) com-
pared to a human hair
material or shortened to composite, which is the com-
mon name) is a material made from two or more con-
stituent materials with signicantly dierent physical or
chemical properties that, when combined, produce a ma-
terial with characteristics dierent from the individual
components. The individual components remain separate
and distinct within the nished structure. The new mate-
rial may be preferred for many reasons: common exam-
ples include materials which are stronger, lighter, or less
expensive when compared to traditional materials. More
recently, researchers have also begun to actively include
sensing, actuation, computation and communication into
composites,[1] which are known as Robotic Materials.
1
Metal composites
Ceramic composites (composite ceramic and metal
matrices)
Composite materials are generally used for buildings,
bridges, and structures such as boat hulls, swimming pool
panels, race car bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, storage
tanks, imitation granite and cultured marble sinks and
countertops. The most advanced examples perform rou-
tinely on spacecraft and aircraft in demanding environ-
ments.
1 History
The earliest man-made composite materials were
straw and mud combined to form bricks for building
construction. Ancient brick-making was documented by
Egyptian tomb paintings .
Wattle and daub is one of the oldest man-made composite
materials, at over 6000 years old.[2] Concrete is also a
composite material, and is used more than any other man-
made material in the world. As of 2006, about 7.5 billion
cubic metres of concrete are made each yearmore than
one cubic metre for every person on Earth.[3]
Woody plants, both true wood from trees and such
plants as palms and bamboo, yield natural compos-
ites that were used prehistorically by mankind and
are still used widely in construction and scaolding.
Plywood 3400 BC by the Ancient Mesopotamians;
gluing wood at dierent angles gives better proper-
ties than natural wood
Cartonnage layers of linen or papyrus soaked in
plaster dates to the First Intermediate Period of
Egypt c. 21812055 BC and was used for death
masks
Cob (material) Mud Bricks, or Mud Walls, (using
mud (clay) with straw or gravel as a binder) have
been used for thousands of years.
2 2 EXAMPLES

Concrete was described by Vitruvius, writing

around 25 BC in his Ten Books on Architecture, dis-
tinguished types of aggregate appropriate for the
preparation of lime mortars. For structural mor-
tars, he recommended pozzolana, which were vol-
canic sands from the sandlike beds of Pozzuoli
brownish-yellow-gray in colour near Naples and
reddish-brown at Rome. Vitruvius species a ra-
tio of 1 part lime to 3 parts pozzolana for cements
used in buildings and a 1:2 ratio of lime to pul-
vis Puteolanus for underwater work, essentially the
same ratio mixed today for concrete used at sea.[4]
Natural cement-stones, after burning, produced ce-
ments used in concretes from post-Roman times into
the 20th century, with some properties superior to Plywood is used widely in construction
manufactured Portland cement.
Papier-mch, a composite of paper and glue, has
been used for hundreds of years
The rst articial bre reinforced plastic was
bakelite which dates to 1907, although natural poly-
mers such as shellac predate it
One of the most common and familiar composite is
berglass, in which small glass ber are embedded
within a polymeric material (normally an epoxy or
polyester). The glass ber is relatively strong and
sti (but also brittle), whereas the polymer is duc-
tile (but also weak and exible). Thus the resulting
berglass is relatively sti, strong, exible, and duc- Composite sandwich structure panel used for testing at NASA
tile.

2 Examples

2.1 Materials

Structural Integrity Analysis : Composites (PDF).

under quite a large compressive force. However, con-

crete cannot survive tensile loading (i.e., if stretched it
will quickly break apart). Therefore, to give concrete the
Concrete is a mixture of cement and aggregate, giving a robust,
strong material that is very widely used.
ability to resist being stretched, steel bars, which can re-
sist high stretching forces, are often added to concrete to
Concrete is the most common articial composite mate- form reinforced concrete.
rial of all and typically consists of loose stones (aggre- Fibre-reinforced polymers or FRPs include carbon-ber-
gate) held with a matrix of cement. Concrete is an inex- reinforced polymer or CFRP, and glass-reinforced plas-
pensive material, and will not compress or shatter even tic or GRP. If classied by matrix then there are ther-
2.2 Products 3

moplastic composites, short ber thermoplastics, long - thin but sti skins to a lightweight but thick core. The
bre thermoplastics or long bre-reinforced thermoplas- core material is normally low strength material, but its
tics. There are numerous thermoset composites, includ- higher thickness provides the sandwich composite with
ing paper composite panels. Many advanced thermoset high bending stiness with overall low density.
polymer matrix systems usually incorporate aramid bre Wood is a naturally occurring composite comprising
and carbon bre in an epoxy resin matrix. cellulose bres in a lignin and hemicellulose matrix.
Shape memory polymer composites are high- Engineered wood includes a wide variety of dierent
performance composites, formulated using bre or products such as wood bre board, plywood, oriented
fabric reinforcement and shape memory polymer resin as strand board, wood plastic composite (recycled wood -
the matrix. Since a shape memory polymer resin is used bre in polyethylene matrix), Pykrete (sawdust in ice ma-
as the matrix, these composites have the ability to be trix), Plastic-impregnated or laminated paper or textiles,
easily manipulated into various congurations when they Arborite, Formica (plastic) and Micarta. Other engi-
are heated above their activation temperatures and will neered laminate composites, such as Mallite, use a central
exhibit high strength and stiness at lower temperatures. core of end grain balsa wood, bonded to surface skins of
They can also be reheated and reshaped repeatedly light alloy or GRP. These generate low-weight, high rigid-
without losing their material properties. These compos- ity materials.
ites are ideal for applications such as lightweight, rigid,
deployable structures; rapid manufacturing; and dynamic
reinforcement. 2.2 Products
High strain composites are another type of high-
performance composites that are designed to perform in Fiber-reinforced composite materials have gained pop-
a high deformation setting and are often used in deploy- ularity (despite their generally high cost) in high-
able systems where structural exing is advantageous. Al- performance products that need to be lightweight,
though high strain composites exhibit many similarities to yet strong enough to take harsh loading conditions
shape memory polymers, their performance is generally such as aerospace components (tails, wings, fuselages,
dependent on the ber layout as opposed to the resin con- propellers), boat and scull hulls, bicycle frames and racing
tent of the matrix. car bodies. Other uses include shing rods, storage
Composites can also use metal bres reinforcing other tanks, swimming pool panels, and baseball bats. The
metals, as in metal matrix composites (MMC) or new Boeing 787 structure including the wings and fuse-
ceramic matrix composites (CMC), which includes bone lage is composed largely of composites. Composite ma-
(hydroxyapatite reinforced with collagen bres), cermet terials are also becoming more common in the realm of
(ceramic and metal) and concrete. Ceramic matrix com- orthopedic surgery.And It is the most common hockey
posites are built primarily for fracture toughness, not for stick material.
strength. Carbon composite is a key material in todays launch
Organic matrix/ceramic aggregate composites include vehicles and heat shields for the re-entry phase of
asphalt concrete, polymer concrete, mastic asphalt, spacecraft. It is widely used in solar panel substrates, an-
mastic roller hybrid, dental composite, syntactic foam tenna reectors and yokes of spacecraft. It is also used in
and mother of pearl. Chobham armour is a special type payload adapters, inter-stage structures and heat shields
of composite armour used in military applications. of launch vehicles. Furthermore, disk brake systems of
airplanes and racing cars are using carbon/carbon mate-
Additionally, thermoplastic composite materials can be rial, and the composite material with carbon bers and
formulated with specic metal powders resulting in mate- silicon carbide matrix has been introduced in luxury ve-
rials with a density range from 2 g/cm to 11 g/cm (same hicles and sports cars.
density as lead). The most common name for this type
of material is high gravity compound (HGC), although In 2006, a ber-reinforced composite pool panel was in-
lead replacement is also used. These materials can be troduced for in-ground swimming pools, residential as
used in place of traditional materials such as aluminium, well as commercial, as a non-corrosive alternative to gal-
stainless steel, brass, bronze, copper, lead, and even tung- vanized steel.
sten in weighting, balancing (for example, modifying the
In 2007, an all-composite military Humvee was intro-
centre of gravity of a tennis racquet), vibration damping,
duced by TPI Composites Inc and Armor Holdings Inc,
and radiation shielding applications. High density com-the rst all-composite military vehicle. By using com-
posites are an economically viable option when certain posites the vehicle is lighter, allowing higher payloads. In
materials are deemed hazardous and are banned (such as 2008, carbon ber and DuPont Kevlar (ve times stronger
lead) or when secondary operations costs (such as ma- than steel) were combined with enhanced thermoset
chining, nishing, or coating) are a factor. resins to make military transit cases by ECS Composites
A sandwich-structured composite is a special class of creating 30-percent lighter cases with high strength.
composite material that is fabricated by attaching two Pipes and ttings for various purpose like transporta-
4 4 CONSTITUENTS

tion of potable water, re-ghting, irrigation, seawater, of constituent materials: matrix (binder) and reinforce-
desalinated water, chemical and industrial waste, and ment. At least one portion of each type is required. The
sewage are now manufactured in glass reinforced plastics. matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement
materials by maintaining their relative positions. The re-
inforcements impart their special mechanical and physi-
3 Overview cal properties to enhance the matrix properties. A syn-
ergism produces material properties unavailable from the
individual constituent materials, while the wide variety of
matrix and strengthening materials allows the designer of
the product or structure to choose an optimum combina-
tion.
Engineered composite materials must be formed to
shape. The matrix material can be introduced to the re-
inforcement before or after the reinforcement material is
placed into the mould cavity or onto the mould surface.
The matrix material experiences a melding event, after
which the part shape is essentially set. Depending upon
the nature of the matrix material, this melding event can
occur in various ways such as chemical polymerization
for a thermoset polymer matrix,or solidication from the
melted state for a thermoplastic polymer matrix compos-
ite.
A variety of moulding methods can be used according to
the end-item design requirements. The principal factors
impacting the methodology are the natures of the chosen
matrix and reinforcement materials. Another important
factor is the gross quantity of material to be produced.
Large quantities can be used to justify high capital expen-
ditures for rapid and automated manufacturing technol-
ogy. Small production quantities are accommodated with
lower capital expenditures but higher labour and tooling
costs at a correspondingly slower rate.
Many commercially produced composites use a polymer
matrix material often called a resin solution. There are
many dierent polymers available depending upon the
starting raw ingredients. There are several broad cate-
gories, each with numerous variations. The most com-
mon are known as polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic,
polyimide, polyamide, polypropylene, PEEK, and oth-
ers. The reinforcement materials are often bres but also
commonly ground minerals. The various methods de-
scribed below have been developed to reduce the resin
content of the nal product, or the bre content is in-
creased. As a rule of thumb, lay up results in a product
containing 60% resin and 40% bre, whereas vacuum in-
fusion gives a nal product with 40% resin and 60% ber
content. The strength of the product is greatly dependent
on this ratio.
Martin Hubbe and Lucian A Lucia consider wood to be
a natural composite of cellulose bres in a matrix of
lignin.[5][6]

Carbon ber composite part.

Composites are made up of individual materials referred 4 Constituents

to as constituent materials. There are two main categories
4.2 Reinforcements 5

4.1 Matrices 4.1.2 Inorganic

Cement (concrete), metals, ceramics, and sometimes

4.1.1 Organic glasses are employed. Unusual matrices such as ice are
sometime proposed as in pykecrete.

Polymers are common matrices (especially used for ber

reinforced plastics). Road surfaces are often made from 4.2 Reinforcements
asphalt concrete which uses bitumen as a matrix. Mud
(wattle and daub) has seen extensive use. Typically, most 4.2.1 Fiber
common polymer-based composite materials, including
berglass, carbon ber, and Kevlar, include at least two
parts, the substrate and the resin.
Polyester resin tends to have yellowish tint, and is suit-
able for most backyard projects. Its weaknesses are that
it is UV sensitive and can tend to degrade over time, and
thus generally is also coated to help preserve it. It is often
used in the making of surfboards and for marine applica-
tions. Its hardener is a peroxide, often MEKP (methyl
ethyl ketone peroxide). When the peroxide is mixed with
the resin, it decomposes to generate free radicals, which
initiate the curing reaction. Hardeners in these systems
are commonly called catalysts, but since they do not re-
appear unchanged at the end of the reaction, they do not
t the strictest chemical denition of a catalyst.
Vinylester resin tends to have a purplish to bluish to
greenish tint. This resin has lower viscosity than polyester
resin, and is more transparent. This resin is often billed
as being fuel resistant, but will melt in contact with gaso- Dierences in the way the bers are laid out give dierent
line. This resin tends to be more resistant over time to strengths and ease of manufacture
degradation than polyester resin, and is more exible. It
uses the same hardeners as polyester resin (at a similar Reinforcement usually adds rigidity and greatly impedes
mix ratio) and the cost is approximately the same. crack propagation. Thin bers can have very high
Epoxy resin is almost totally transparent when cured. In strength, and provided they are mechanically well at-
the aerospace industry, epoxy is used as a structural ma- tached to the matrix they can greatly improve the com-
trix material or as a structural glue. posites overall properties.

Shape memory polymer (SMP) resins have varying visual Fiber-reinforced composite materials can be divided into
two main categories normally referred to as short ber-
characteristics depending on their formulation. These
resins may be epoxy-based, which can be used for reinforced materials and continuous ber-reinforced ma-
terials. Continuous reinforced materials will often con-
auto body and outdoor equipment repairs; cyanate-ester-
based, which are used in space applications; and acrylate- stitute a layered or laminated structure. The woven and
continuous ber styles are typically available in a variety
based, which can be used in very cold temperature appli-
cations, such as for sensors that indicate whether perish- of forms, being pre-impregnated with the given matrix
able goods have warmed above a certain maximum tem- (resin), dry, uni-directional tapes of various widths, plain
perature. These resins are unique in that their shape can weave, harness satins, braided, and stitched.
be repeatedly changed by heating above their glass transi- The short and long bers are typically employed in com-
tion temperature (Tg). When heated, they become exi- pression moulding and sheet moulding operations. These
ble and elastic, allowing for easy conguration. Once they come in the form of akes, chips, and random mate
are cooled, they will maintain their new shape. The resins (which can also be made from a continuous bre laid in
will return to their original shapes when they are reheated random fashion until the desired thickness of the ply /
above their Tg. The advantage of shape memory polymer laminate is achieved).
resins is that they can be shaped and reshaped repeatedly Common bers used for reinforcement include glass
without losing their material properties. These resins canbers, carbon bers, cellulose (wood/paper ber and
be used in fabricating shape memory composites. straw) and high strength polymers for example aramid.
Traditional materials such as glues, muds have tradition- Silicon carbide bers are used for some high temperature
ally been used as matrices for papier-mch and adobe. applications.
6 5 FABRICATION METHODS

4.2.2 Other reinforcement 5.1 Mold overview

Concrete uses aggregate, and reinforced concrete addi- Within a mold, the reinforcing and matrix materials are
tionally uses steel bars (rebar) to tension the concrete. combined, compacted, and cured (processed) to undergo
Steel mesh or wires are also used in some glass and plastic a melding event. After the melding event, the part shape
products. is essentially set, although it can deform under certain
process conditions. For a thermoset polymer matrix ma-
terial, the melding event is a curing reaction that is initi-
4.3 Cores ated by the application of additional heat or chemical re-
activity such as an organic peroxide. For a thermoplastic
Many composite layup designs also include a co-curing polymeric matrix material, the melding event is a solidi-
or post-curing of the prepreg with various other media, cation from the melted state. For a metal matrix material
such as honeycomb or foam. This is commonly called a such as titanium foil, the melding event is a fusing at high
sandwich structure. This is a more common layup for pressure and a temperature near the melting point.
the manufacture of radomes, doors, cowlings, or non- For many moulding methods, it is convenient to refer to
structural parts. one mould piece as a lower mould and another mould
Open- and closed-cell-structured foams like piece as an upper mould. Lower and upper refer to the
polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, polyethylene or dierent faces of the moulded panel, not the moulds con-
polystyrene foams, balsa wood, syntactic foams, and guration in space. In this convention, there is always a
honeycombs are commonly used core materials. Open- lower mould, and sometimes an upper mould. Part con-
and closed-cell metal foam can also be used as core struction begins by applying materials to the lower mould.
materials. Recently, 3D graphene structures ( also called Lower mould and upper mould are more generalized de-
graphene foam) have also been employed as core struc- scriptors than more common and specic terms such as
tures. A recent review by Khurram and Xu et al., have male side, female side, a-side, b-side, tool side, bowl, hat,
provided the summary of the state-of-the-art techniques mandrel, etc. Continuous manufacturing uses a dierent
for fabrication of the 3D structure of graphene, and the nomenclature.
examples of the use of these foam like structures as a The moulded product is often referred to as a panel. For
core for their respective polymer composites.[7] certain geometries and material combinations, it can be
referred to as a casting. For certain continuous processes,
it can be referred to as a prole.
5 Fabrication methods
Fabrication of composite materials is accomplished by a 5.2 Vacuum bag moulding
wide variety of techniques, including:
Vacuum bag moulding uses a exible lm to enclose the
part and seal it from outside air. Vacuum bag material is
Advanced ber placement (Automated ber place- available in a tube shape or a sheet of material. A vac-
ment) uum is then drawn on the vacuum bag and atmospheric
pressure compresses the part during the cure. When a
Tailored ber placement
tube shaped bag is used, the entire part can be enclosed
within the bag. When using sheet bagging materials, the
Fiberglass spray lay-up process
edges of the vacuum bag are sealed against the edges of
Filament winding the mould surface to enclose the part against an air-tight
mould. When bagged in this way, the lower mold is a rigid
Lanxide process structure and the upper surface of the part is formed by
the exible membrane vacuum bag. The exible mem-
Tufting brane can be a reusable silicone material or an extruded
polymer lm. After sealing the part inside the vacuum
Z-pinning bag, a vacuum is drawn on the part (and held) during
cure. This process can be performed at either ambient
Composite fabrication usually involves wetting, mixing or elevated temperature with ambient atmospheric pres-
or saturating the reinforcement with the matrix, and then sure acting upon the vacuum bag. A vacuum pump is
causing the matrix to bind together (with heat or a chem- typically used to draw a vacuum. An economical method
ical reaction) into a rigid structure. The operation is usu- of drawing a vacuum is with a venturi vacuum and air
ally done in an open or closed forming mold, but the order compressor.
and ways of introducing the ingredients varies consider- A vacuum bag is a bag made of strong rubber-coated
ably. fabric or a polymer lm used to compress the part during
5.4 Autoclave moulding
cure or hardening. In some applications the bag encloses
the entire material, or in other applications a mold is used
to form one face of the laminate with the bag being a sin-
gle layer to seal to the outer edge of the mold face. When
using a tube shaped bag, the ends of the bag are sealed
and the air is drawn out of the bag through a nipple using
a vacuum pump. As a result, uniform pressure approach-
ing one atmosphere is applied to the surfaces of the object
inside the bag, holding parts together while the adhesive
cures. The entire bag may be placed in a temperature-
controlled oven, oil bath or water bath and gently heated
to accelerate curing.
Vacuum bagging is widely used in the composites indus-
try as well. Carbon ber fabric and berglass, along with
resins and epoxies are common materials laminated to-
gether with a vacuum bag operation.
Woodworking applications
In commercial woodworking facilities, vacuum bags are
used to laminate curved and irregular shaped workpieces.
Typically, polyurethane or vinyl materials are used to
make the bag. A tube shaped bag is open at both ends.
The piece, or pieces to be glued are placed into the bag
and the ends sealed. One method of sealing the open ends
of the bag is by placing a clamp on each end of the bag.
A plastic rod is laid across the end of the bag, the bag is
then folded over the rod. A plastic sleeve with an opening
in it, is then snapped over the rod. This procedure forms
a seal at both ends of the bag, when the vacuum is ready
to be drawn.
A platen is sometimes used inside the bag for the piece
being glued to lie on. The platen has a series of small slots
cut into it, to allow the air under it to be evacuated. The
platen must have rounded edges and corners to prevent
the vacuum from tearing the bag.
When a curved part is to be glued in a vacuum bag, it
is important that the pieces being glued be placed over a
solidly built form, or have an air bladder placed under the
form. This air bladder has access to free air outside the
bag. It is used to create an equal pressure under the form,
preventing it from being crushed.[8]
5.3 Pressure bag moulding
This process is related to vacuum bag molding in exactly
the same way as it sounds. A solid female mold is used
along with a exible male mold. The reinforcement is
placed inside the female mold with just enough resin to
allow the fabric to stick in place (wet lay up). A measured
amount of resin is then liberally brushed indiscriminately
into the mold and the mold is then clamped to a machine
that contains the male exible mold. The exible male
membrane is then inated with heated compressed air or
possibly steam. The female mold can also be heated. Ex-
cess resin is forced out along with trapped air. This pro-
7
cess is extensively used in the production of composite
helmets due to the lower cost of unskilled labor. Cycle
times for a helmet bag moulding machine vary from 20
to 45 minutes, but the nished shells require no further
curing if the molds are heated.
5.4 Autoclave moulding
A process using a two-sided mould set that forms both
surfaces of the panel. On the lower side is a rigid mould
and on the upper side is a exible membrane made from
silicone or an extruded polymer lm such as nylon. Re-
inforcement materials can be placed manually or robot-
ically. They include continuous bre forms fashioned
into textile constructions. Most often, they are pre-
impregnated with the resin in the form of prepreg fabrics
or unidirectional tapes. In some instances, a resin lm
is placed upon the lower mould and dry reinforcement is
placed above. The upper mould is installed and vacuum is
applied to the mould cavity. The assembly is placed into
an autoclave. This process is generally performed at both
elevated pressure and elevated temperature. The use of
elevated pressure facilitates a high bre volume fraction
and low void content for maximum structural eciency.
5.5 Resin transfer moulding (RTM)
RTM is a process using a rigid two-sided mould set that
forms both surfaces of the panel. The mould is typically
constructed from aluminum or steel, but composite molds
are sometimes used. The two sides t together to pro-
duce a mould cavity. The distinguishing feature of resin
transfer moulding is that the reinforcement materials are
placed into this cavity and the mould set is closed prior
to the introduction of matrix material. Resin transfer
moulding includes numerous varieties which dier in the
mechanics of how the resin is introduced to the reinforce-
ment in the mould cavity. These variations include ev-
erything from the RTM methods used in out of autoclave
composite manufacturing for high-tech aerospace com-
ponents to vacuum infusion (for resin infusion see also
boat building) to vacuum assisted resin transfer mould-
ing (VARTM). This process can be performed at either
ambient or elevated temperature.
5.6 Other fabrication methods
Other types of fabrication include press moulding,
transfer moulding, pultrusion moulding, lament wind-
ing, casting, centrifugal casting, continuous casting and
slip forming. There are also forming capabilities includ-
ing CNC lament winding, vacuum infusion, wet lay-up,
compression moulding, and thermoplastic moulding, to
name a few. The use of curing ovens and paint booths is
also needed for some projects.
8 7 ONLINE COMPOSITES PORTALS

5.6.1 Finishing methods 6.1 Failure

The nishing of the composite parts is also critical in the Shock, impact, or repeated cyclic stresses can cause the
nal design. Many of these nishes will include rain- laminate to separate at the interface between two layers,
erosion coatings or polyurethane coatings. a condition known as delamination. Individual bres can
separate from the matrix e.g. bre pull-out.
Composites can fail on the microscopic or macroscopic
5.7 Tooling scale. Compression failures can occur at both the macro
scale or at each individual reinforcing ber in compres-
The mold and mold inserts are referred to as tool- sion buckling. Tension failures can be net section failures
ing. The mold/tooling can be constructed from a vari- of the part or degradation of the composite at a micro-
ety of materials. Tooling materials include invar, steel, scopic scale where one or more of the layers in the com-
aluminium, reinforced silicone rubber, nickel, and carbon posite fail in tension of the matrix or failure of the bond
ber. Selection of the tooling material is typically based between the matrix and bers.
on, but not limited to, the coecient of thermal expan- Some composites are brittle and have little reserve
sion, expected number of cycles, end item tolerance, de- strength beyond the initial onset of failure while others
sired or required surface condition, method of cure, glass may have large deformations and have reserve energy ab-
transition temperature of the material being moulded, sorbing capacity past the onset of damage. The variations
moulding method, matrix, cost and a variety of other con- in bers and matrices that are available and the mixtures
siderations. that can be made with blends leave a very broad range of
properties that can be designed into a composite struc-
ture. The best known failure of a brittle ceramic matrix
composite occurred when the carbon-carbon composite
6 Physical properties tile on the leading edge of the wing of the Space Shuttle
Columbia fractured when impacted during take-o. It led
to catastrophic break-up of the vehicle when it re-entered
The physical properties of composite materials are gen-
the Earths atmosphere on 1 February 2003.
erally not isotropic (independent of direction of applied
force) in nature, but rather are typically anisotropic (dif- Compared to metals, composites have relatively poor
ferent depending on the direction of the applied force or bearing strength.
load). For instance, the stiness of a composite panel will
often depend upon the orientation of the applied forces
and/or moments. Panel stiness is also dependent on the 6.2 Testing
design of the panel. For instance, the bre reinforcement
and matrix used, the method of panel build, thermoset To aid in predicting and preventing failures, composites
versus thermoplastic, type of weave, and orientation of are tested before and after construction. Pre-construction
bre axis to the primary force. testing may use nite element analysis (FEA) for ply-
In contrast, isotropic materials (for example, aluminium by-ply analysis of curved surfaces and predicting wrin-
[9][10]
or steel), in standard wrought forms, typically have the kling, crimping and dimpling of composites. Mate-
same stiness regardless of the directional orientation of rials may be tested during manufacturing and after con-
the applied forces and/or moments. struction through several nondestructive methods includ-
ing ultrasonics, thermography, shearography and X-ray
The relationship between forces/moments and radiography,[11] and laser bond inspection for NDT of rel-
strains/curvatures for an isotropic material can be ative bond strength integrity in a localized area.
described with the following material properties:
Youngs Modulus, the shear Modulus and the Poissons
ratio, in relatively simple mathematical relationships.
For the anisotropic material, it requires the mathematics 7 Online Composites Portals
of a second order tensor and up to 21 material property
constants. For the special case of orthogonal isotropy, 7.1 cdmHUB
there are three dierent material property constants for
each of Youngs Modulus, Shear Modulus and Poissons cdmHUB (https://cdmhub.org) is an online portal for
ratioa total of 9 constants to describe the relationship composites resources, information, and networking.[12]
between forces/moments and strains/curvatures. Launched in May 2013 at Purdue University, cdmHUB
Techniques that take advantage of the anisotropic proper- now hosts a rapidly growing collection of composites apps
ties of the materials include mortise and tenon joints (in and commercial tools that run in the cloud and are acces-
natural composites such as wood) and Pi Joints in syn- sible through a web browser. cdmHUB also provides a
thetic composites. wide array of resources that help users learn, experience
 9

and interact with composites simulation tools and tech- [10] Aghdam, M. M.; Morsali, S. R. (2013-11-01). Damage
nology. initiation and collapse behavior of unidirectional
metal matrix composites at elevated temperatures.
Computational Materials Science. 79: 402407.
doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2013.06.024.
8 See also
[11] Matzkanin, George A.; Yolken, H. Thomas. Techniques
Aluminium composite panel for the Nondestructive Evaluation of Polymer Matrix
Composites (PDF). AMMTIAC Quarterly. 2 (4).
American Composites Manufacturers Association
[12] The Composites Design and Manufacturing HUB.
Chemical vapour inltration Composites Manufacturing. June 11, 2014. Retrieved
September 2, 2016.
Epoxy granite
Nanocomposites
10 Further reading
Hybrid material
Robert M. Jones (1999). Mechanics of Compos-
Composite laminates
ite Materials (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN
Rule of mixtures 9781560327127.

Void (composites).. Autar K. Kaw (2005). Mechanics of Composite Ma-

Composite
9 References
[1] M. A. McEvoy and N. Correll. Materials that couple sens-
ing, actuation, computation and communication. Science
347(6228), 2015.
[2] Shaer, G.D. An Archaeomagnetic Study of a Wattle and
Daub Building Collapse. Journal of Field Archaeology,
20, No. 1. Spring, 1993. 59-75. JSTOR. Accessed 28
January 2007
terials (2nd ed.). CRC. ISBN 0-8493-1343-0.
Handbook of Polymer Composites for Engineers By
Leonard Hollaway Published 1994 Woodhead Pub-
lishing
Madbouly, Samy, Chaoqun Zhang, and Michael R.
Kessler. Bio-Based Plant Oil Polymers and Com-
posites. William Andrew, 2015.
Matthews, F.L.; Rawlings, R.D. (1999). Compos-
ite Materials: Engineering and Science. Boca Raton:
CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0621-3.

[3] Minerals commodity summary cement 2007. US

United States Geological Survey. 1 June 2007. Retrieved
11 External links
16 January 2008.
Distance learning course in polymers and compos-
[4] Heather Lechtman and Linn Hobbs Roman Concrete ites
and the Roman Architectural Revolution, Ceramics and
Civilization Volume 3: High Technology Ceramics: Past, High Density Composites Replace Lead
Present, Future, edited by W.D. Kingery and published
by the American Ceramics Society, 1986; and Vitruvius, Strength of Composites
Book II:v,1; Book V:xii2
Composite Sandwich Structure of Minardi F1 Car
[5] http://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_02/BioRes_
02_4_534_535_Hubbe_L_BioResJ_Editorial_ OptiDAT composite material database
LoveHate.pdf
Tests originally developed to test metals have been
[6] David Hon and Nobuo Shiraishi, eds. (2001) Wood and adapted by the industry to test composites
cellulose chemistry, 2nd ed. (New York: Marcel Dekker),
p. 5 . World leading centre for advanced composites

[7] Khurram, Shehzad; Xu, Yang; Chao, Gao; Xianfeng,

Duan (2016). Three-dimensional macro-structures of
two-dimensional nanomaterials. Chemical Society Re-
views. doi:10.1039/C6CS00218H.

[8] Vacuum Bags For Woodworking.

[9] Waterman, Pamela J. The Life of Composite Materials.

Desktop Engineering Magazine. April 2007.
10 12 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

12.1 Text
Composite material Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_material?oldid=766314661 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Bryan Derk-
sen, SimonP, Heron, Michael Hardy, Kku, Ellywa, Ahoerstemeier, Ronz, Suisui, Darkwind, JidGom, Owen, BenBreen2003, RedWolf,
Greudin, Yosri, Eliashedberg, Tea2min, Jpo, Andries, BenFrantzDale, PlatinumX, Mikro2nd, LiDaobing, Gzuckier, OverlordQ, Zfr,
Ukexpat, Jimaginator, Mike Rosoft, Archer3, Discospinster, Mecanismo, Iediteverything, Mairi, Femto, Sole Soul, Jag123, Sam Korn,
Andrewpmk, AzaToth, Cmprince, Versageek, Vadim Makarov, Dan100, Luigizanasi, Oleg Alexandrov, TShilo12, Brookie, Gosgood,
Natalya, Nuno Tavares, Sylvain Mielot, RHaworth, Polyparadigm, AshishG, Firien, Bluemoose, RuM, Scottanon, BD2412, Ketiltrout,
Stardust8212, Jakers3200, Ian Pitchford, Simishag, YurikBot, Wavelength, RussBot, Arado, Gardar Rurak, Hydrargyrum, Stephenb,
Shaddack, Rsrikanth05, Oberst, Cstaa, Donbert, Closedmouth, SMcCandlish, Contaldo80, sgeir IV.~enwiki, Pritam79, Veinor, Smack-
Bot, Nathaniel, Moeron, Reedy, Slashme, Hydrogen Iodide, Pgk, Ultramandk, Commander Keane bot, Yamaguchi , Gilliam, Hmains,
Chris the speller, Bluebot, Keegan, Jprg1966, Oli Filth, PrimeHunter, MidgleyDJ, Nbarth, Nick Levine, Frap, Foxcreekcowboy, Bard-
sandwarriors, Makemi, SnappingTurtle, ShaunES, DMacks, Henning Makholm, Mion, Bejnar, Ccchambers, Kuzaar, Georey Wickham,
Kuru, John, Tlesher, Peterlewis, Slakr, Beetstra, TastyPoutine, Ahering@cogeco.ca, Onionmon, Hu12, BranStark, Wizard191, Iridescent,
Michaelbusch, Boubacar~enwiki, Jandrel, UncleDouggie, Igoldste, Tawkerbot2, SkyWalker, Joostvandeputte~enwiki, Cb2292, CmdrObot,
Ale jrb, Scohoust, KyraVixen, N2e, Pyrope, Haftchen, Acabtp, Fnlayson, Tawkerbot4, Optimist on the run, Leumar01, PamD, Summon-
erMarc, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, NorwegianBlue, Greg L, Prasun92, AntiVandalBot, Tyco.skinner, Farosdaughter, Cguil uk, Golgofrinchian,
JAnDbot, T-850 Robotic Assistant, Barek, MER-C, VoABot II, JamesBWatson, Think outside the box, Rich257, Twsx, Indon, BilCat,
Philander, G. Hill, Naohiro19, R'n'B, Nono64, EdBever, 956391, Webmasters, Herbythyme, Hans Dunkelberg, NYCRuss, Amgreen,
AntiSpamBot, Paulbracegirdle, KylieTastic, STBotD, Kvdveer, Inwind, Useight, Bertiethecat, Lights, VolkovBot, Je G., Jmrowland, Al-
noktaBOT, Jomasecu, Nbvvbn, Mbvanleeuwen, Anna Lincoln, Kovianyo, LeaveSleaves, Eoinsimon, Falcon8765, Enviroboy, MCTales,
Dylansmrjones, SieBot, VK35, Qwertythecat, Dawn Bard, Smsarmad, Yintan, Flippythewalrus, Kirt Butler, Student1980~enwiki, LA-
Dave, Permacultura, Jojalozzo, SouthLake, KoshVorlon, Creasyts, Spitre19, Bkumartvm, Dolphin51, ImageRemovalBot, Tanvir Ah-
mmed, Elassint, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Durkee~enwiki, Compositeguy, JTSchreiber, Niceguyedc, Jusdafax, PixelBot,
Sprotopapas, 12 Noon, Rhododendrites, Hadoooookin, Resuna, SchreiberBike, Farokh mehr, Ankurtg, Mvelterop, Thingg, Aitias, Ran-
jithsutari, Sivakamitvm, SoxBot III, Elliskid, XLinkBot, ChyranandChloe, Rror, Plamal, Dthomsen8, Nicoguaro, Facts707, WikHead,
Jamusmax, Alexius08, Vaidheestvm, Dfoxvog, Vtaber02, Luwilt, Addbot, Deltasquared, Kerina yin, Queenmomcat, Mbw5014, Ron-
hjones, Fieldday-sunday, Physchem, Vikramaditya1986, MrOllie, AndersBot, West.andrew.g, Jsummerscales, KaiKemmann, Composite-
doorshop, Romaioi, Arbitrarily0, Vegaswikian1, Frehley, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Jnavas2, Apollionus, Kandi111777, KamikazeBot, Nasier
Alcofribas, Coxt001, AnomieBOT, Tomcox, Daniele Pugliesi, Dwayne, Kingpin13, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Jain034567, Cure-
den, UBJ 43X, Sennaya, Ldemasi, Kokcharov, AbigailAbernathy, C+C, Mark Schierbecker, Mathonius, Coosbane, Bld175, Ecs4life1,
GliderMaven, FrescoBot, Patelurology2, Miladmilad, DivineAlpha, Citation bot 1, Denzil Simoes, SME2009, SpaceFlight89, Akkida,
Steve2011, Stetphen Leonard-Williams, SkyMachine, TekWrtr, , Lotje, 777sms, BryantVlei, SunKider, Netcomposites, Diannaa,
Jthoele2, Robert Mathel, Twastvedt, EmausBot, Surendracomposites, Immunize, ScottyBerg, RA0808, Occamisation, Mmeijeri, Dcirovic,
ZroBot, Dgd, Demonkoryu, Crazyhug, Rcsprinter123, TyA, Architect21c, Dr eng x, Teapeat, Kipediwi, ClueBot NG, Mechanical dig-
ger, Incompetence, Rtucker913, Floatjon, Rezabot, Widr, PaoloNapolitano, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gluonman, JayjayVicious, Dsajga, Emayv,
Cases2Go, Mark Arsten, SPI IPF, Cherry,charan, Martijnrd, Rimianika, Klilidiplomus, Total-MAdMaN, Padenton, Emreyurtseven, Si-
mon.white.1000, Hmainsbot1, Rafa3040, Yetanotherwriter, PauloMSimoes, Frosty, Me, Myself, and I are Here, Gdwww, Kate748, Fibre-
lite Hayley, Anna8325, Lizia7, Matsci2, Sedolo55, Monkbot, Volker Siegel, O.Balkan, Twtmidget, Rockyuan79, Trackteur, FriendlyCari-
bou, Crystallizedcarbon, Benimebob, EChastain, Steervguyjdeagnjhaecmheavmhgaecgdjdksu, RebeccaRuck, Spthirtythree, Andrecliord,
KasparBot, Brendon Mcclullum, Leevan27, CompositesUK, Reckoshreckii, Imminent77, Okyalo2016, DeStrickland, Larcini5, Lms2000
and Anonymous: 474

12.2 Images
File:Cfaser_haarrp.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Cfaser_haarrp.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-readable
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tributors: Own work Original artist: User:Larsen25
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File:Glare_honeycomb.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Glare_honeycomb.jpg License: Public do-
main Contributors: http://ballistics.grc.nasa.gov/Photographic%20Data/Images/glare_honeycomb.jpg Original artist: NASA
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