Composite material

For the specic carbon and glass ber based composite

materials often referred to loosely as 'composites, see
Fiber-reinforced polymer.
A composite material (also called a composition ma-

panels, race car bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, storage

tanks, imitation granite and cultured marble sinks and
countertops. The most advanced examples perform routinely on spacecraft and aircraft in demanding environments.

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 manmade 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]

Composites are formed by combining materials together to form

an overall structure that is better than the sum of the individual
components

Woody plants, both true wood from trees and such

plants as palms and bamboo, yield natural composites that were used prehistorically by mankind and
are still used widely in construction and scaolding.

terial or shortened to composite) is a material made from

two or more constituent materials with signicantly different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics dierent
from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the nished
structure. The new material may be preferred for many
reasons: common examples 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.

Plywood 3400 BC by the Ancient Mesopotamians;

gluing wood at dierent angles gives better properties 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.

Typical engineered composite materials include:

Composite building materials, such as cements,
concrete

Concrete was described by Vitruvius, writing

around 25 BC in his Ten Books on Architecture, distinguished types of aggregate appropriate for the
preparation of lime mortars. For structural mortars, he recommended pozzolana, which were volcanic sands from the sandlike beds of Pozzuoli
brownish-yellow-gray in colour near Naples and
reddish-brown at Rome. Vitruvius species a ratio of 1 part lime to 3 parts pozzolana for cements
used in buildings and a 1:2 ratio of lime to pulvis Puteolanus for underwater work, essentially the
same ratio mixed today for concrete used at sea.[4]

Reinforced plastics, such as ber-reinforced polymer

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
1

2 EXAMPLES
Natural cement-stones, after burning, produced cements used in concretes from post-Roman times into
the 20th century, with some properties superior to
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 polymers 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 Plywood is used widely in construction
sti (but also brittle), whereas the polymer is ductile (but also weak and exible). Thus the resulting
berglass is relatively sti, strong, exible, and ductile.

2
2.1

Examples
Materials

Composite sandwich structure panel used for testing at NASA

Concrete is a mixture of cement and aggregate, giving a robust,

strong material that is very widely used.

Concrete is the most common articial composite material of all and typically consists of loose stones (aggregate) held with a matrix of cement. Concrete is a very
robust material, much more robust than cement, and will
not compress or shatter even under quite a large compressive force. However, concrete cannot survive tensile loading (i.e., if stretched it will quickly break apart). Therefore, to give concrete the ability to resist being stretched,
steel bars, which can resist high stretching forces, are often added to concrete to form reinforced concrete.
Fibre-reinforced polymers or FRPs include carbon-berreinforced polymer or CFRP, and glass-reinforced plastic
or GRP. If classied by matrix then there are thermoplastic composites, short ber thermoplastics, long bre thermoplastics or long bre-reinforced thermoplastics. There

Structural Integrity Analysis : Composites (PDF).

are numerous thermoset composites, but advanced systems usually incorporate aramid bre and carbon bre in
an epoxy resin matrix.
Shape memory polymer composites are highperformance composites, formulated using bre or
fabric reinforcement and shape memory polymer resin as
the matrix. Since a shape memory polymer resin is used
as the matrix, these composites have the ability to be
easily manipulated into various congurations when they

2.2

Products

are heated above their activation temperatures and will

exhibit high strength and stiness at lower temperatures.
They can also be reheated and reshaped repeatedly
without losing their material properties. These composites are ideal for applications such as lightweight, rigid,
deployable structures; rapid manufacturing; and dynamic
reinforcement.
High strain composites are another type of highperformance composites that are designed to perform in
a high deformation setting and are often used in deployable systems where structural exing is advantageous. Although high strain composites exhibit many similarities to
shape memory polymers, their performance is generally
dependent on the ber layout as opposed to the resin content of the matrix.

3
neered laminate composites, such as Mallite, use a central
core of end grain balsa wood, bonded to surface skins of
light alloy or GRP. These generate low-weight, high rigidity materials.

2.2 Products
Fiber-reinforced composite materials have gained popularity (despite their generally high cost) in highperformance products that need to be lightweight,
yet strong enough to take harsh loading conditions
such as aerospace components (tails, wings, fuselages,
propellers), boat and scull hulls, bicycle frames and racing
car bodies. Other uses include shing rods, storage
tanks, swimming pool panels, and baseball bats. The
new Boeing 787 structure including the wings and fuselage is composed largely of composites. Composite materials are also becoming more common in the realm of
orthopedic surgery.

Composites can also use metal bres reinforcing other

metals, as in metal matrix composites (MMC) or
ceramic matrix composites (CMC), which includes bone
(hydroxyapatite reinforced with collagen bres), cermet
(ceramic and metal) and concrete. Ceramic matrix composites are built primarily for fracture toughness, not for Carbon composite is a key material in todays launch
vehicles and heat shields for the re-entry phase of
strength.
spacecraft. It is widely used in solar panel substrates, anOrganic matrix/ceramic aggregate composites include tenna reectors and yokes of spacecraft. It is also used in
asphalt concrete, mastic asphalt, mastic roller hybrid, payload adapters, inter-stage structures and heat shields
dental composite, syntactic foam and mother of pearl. of launch vehicles. Furthermore, disk brake systems of
Chobham armour is a special type of composite armour airplanes and racing cars are using carbon/carbon mateused in military applications.
rial, and the composite material with carbon bers and
Additionally, thermoplastic composite materials can be silicon carbide matrix has been introduced in luxury veformulated with specic metal powders resulting in mate- hicles and sports cars.
rials with a density range from 2 g/cm to 11 g/cm (same In 2006, a ber-reinforced composite pool panel was indensity as lead). The most common name for this type troduced for in-ground swimming pools, residential as
of material is high gravity compound (HGC), although well as commercial, as a non-corrosive alternative to gallead replacement is also used. These materials can be vanized steel.
used in place of traditional materials such as aluminium,
stainless steel, brass, bronze, copper, lead, and even tung- In 2007, an all-composite military Humvee was introsten in weighting, balancing (for example, modifying the duced by TPI Composites Inc and Armor Holdings Inc,
centre of gravity of a tennis racquet), vibration damping, the rst all-composite military vehicle. By using comand radiation shielding applications. High density com- posites the vehicle is lighter, allowing higher payloads. In
posites are an economically viable option when certain 2008, carbon ber and DuPont Kevlar (ve times stronger
materials are deemed hazardous and are banned (such as than steel) were combined with enhanced thermoset
lead) or when secondary operations costs (such as ma- resins to make military transit cases by ECS Composites
creating 30-percent lighter cases with high strength.
chining, nishing, or coating) are a factor.
A sandwich-structured composite is a special class of Pipes and ttings for various purpose like transportacomposite material that is fabricated by attaching two tion of potable water, re-ghting, irrigation, seawater,
thin but sti skins to a lightweight but thick core. The desalinated water, chemical and industrial waste, and
core material is normally low strength material, but its sewage are now manufactured in glass reinforced plastics.
higher thickness provides the sandwich composite with
high bending stiness with overall low density.
Wood is a naturally occurring composite comprising
cellulose bres in a lignin and hemicellulose matrix.
Engineered wood includes a wide variety of dierent
products such as wood bre board, plywood, oriented
strand board, wood plastic composite (recycled wood bre in polyethylene matrix), Pykrete (sawdust in ice matrix), Plastic-impregnated or laminated paper or textiles,
Arborite, Formica (plastic) and Micarta. Other engi-

3 Overview
Composites are made up of individual materials referred
to as constituent materials. There are two main categories
of constituent materials: matrix and reinforcement. At
least one portion of each type is required. The matrix
material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. The rein-

4 CONSTITUENTS
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 or
solidication from the melted state.
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 expenditures for rapid and automated manufacturing technology. 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 categories, each with numerous variations. The most common are known as polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenolic,
polyimide, polyamide, polypropylene, PEEK, and others. The reinforcement materials are often bres but also
commonly ground minerals. The various methods described below have been developed to reduce the resin
content of the nal product, or the bre content is increased. As a rule of thumb, lay up results in a product
containing 60% resin and 40% bre, whereas vacuum infusion 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]

4 Constituents
4.1 Matrices
4.1.1 Resins
Carbon ber composite part.

forcements impart their special mechanical and physical

properties to enhance the matrix properties. A synergism 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 combination.

Typically, most 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 suitable 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 applications. Its hardener is a peroxide, often MEKP (methyl
ethyl ketone peroxide). When the peroxide is mixed with
Engineered composite materials must be formed to the resin, it decomposes to generate free radicals, which
shape. The matrix material can be introduced to the re- initiate the curing reaction. Hardeners in these systems

4.3

Cores

are commonly called catalysts, but since they do not reappear 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 gasoline. This resin tends to be more resistant over time to
degradation than polyester resin, and is more exible. It
uses the same hardeners as polyester resin (at a similar
mix ratio) and the cost is approximately the same.
Epoxy resin is almost totally transparent when cured. In
the aerospace industry, epoxy is used as a structural matrix material or as a structural glue.
Shape memory polymer (SMP) resins have varying visual
characteristics depending on their formulation. These
resins may be epoxy-based, which can be used for
auto body and outdoor equipment repairs; cyanate-esterbased, which are used in space applications; and acrylatebased, which can be used in very cold temperature applications, such as for sensors that indicate whether perishable goods have warmed above a certain maximum temperature. These resins are unique in that their shape can
be repeatedly changed by heating above their glass transition temperature (Tg). When heated, they become exible and elastic, allowing for easy conguration. Once they
are cooled, they will maintain their new shape. The resins
will return to their original shapes when they are reheated
above their Tg. The advantage of shape memory polymer
resins is that they can be shaped and reshaped repeatedly
without losing their material properties. These resins can
be used in fabricating shape memory composites.

Dierences in the way the bers are laid out give dierent
strengths and ease of manufacture

stitute a layered or laminated structure. The woven and

continuous bre styles are typically available in a variety
of forms, being pre-impregnated with the given matrix
(resin), dry, uni-directional tapes of various widths, plain
weave, harness satins, braided, and stitched.
The short and long bers are typically employed in compression moulding and sheet moulding operations. These
come in the form of akes, chips, and random mate
(which can also be made from a continuous bre laid in
random fashion until the desired thickness of the ply /
laminate is achieved).

Common bers used for reinforcement include glass

bers, carbon bers, cellulose (wood/paper ber and
straw) and high strength polymers for example aramid.
4.1.2 Other matrices
Silicon carbide bers are used for some high temperature
Common matrices include mud (wattle and daub), ce- applications.
ment (concrete), polymers (ber reinforced plastics),
metals, ceramics and sometimes glass. Road surfaces are 4.2.2 Other Reinforcement
often made from asphalt concrete which uses bitumen as
a matrix. Unusual matrices such as ice are sometime pro- Concrete uses aggregate, and reinforced concrete addiposed as in pykecrete.
tionally uses steel bars (rebar) to tension the concrete.

4.2
4.2.1

Reinforcements
Fiber

Reinforcement usually adds rigidity and greatly impedes

crack propagation. Thin bers can have very high
strength, and provided they are mechanically well attached to the matrix they can greatly improve the composites overall properties.

Steel mesh or wires are also used in some glass and plastic
products.

4.3 Cores

Many composite layup designs also include a co-curing

or post-curing of the prepreg with various other media,
such as honeycomb or foam. This is commonly called a
sandwich structure. This is a more common layup for
the manufacture of radomes, doors, cowlings, or nonFiber-reinforced composite materials can be divided into structural parts.
two main categories normally referred to as short ber- Open- and closed-cell-structured foams like
reinforced materials and continuous ber-reinforced ma- polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, polyethylene or
terials. Continuous reinforced materials will often con- polystyrene foams, balsa wood, syntactic foams, and

FABRICATION METHODS

honeycombs are commonly used core materials. Open- mandrel, etc. Continuous manufacturing uses a dierent
and closed-cell metal foam can also be used as core nomenclature.
materials.
The moulded product is often referred to as a panel. For
certain geometries and material combinations, it can be
referred to as a casting. For certain continuous processes,
5 Fabrication methods
it can be referred to as a prole.
Fabrication of composite materials is accomplished by a
5.2
wide variety of techniques, including:

Vacuum bag moulding

Vacuum bag moulding uses a exible lm to enclose the

Advanced ber placement (Automated ber place- part and seal it from outside air. Vacuum bag material is
ment)
available in a tube shape or a sheet of material. A vacuum is then drawn on the vacuum bag and atmospheric
Tailored ber placement
pressure compresses the part during the cure. When a
tube shaped bag is used, the entire part can be enclosed
Fiberglass spray lay-up process
within the bag. When using sheet bagging materials, the
Filament winding
edges of the vacuum bag are sealed against the edges of
the mould surface to enclose the part against an air-tight
Lanxide process
mould. When bagged in this way, the lower mold is a rigid
structure and the upper surface of the part is formed by
Tufting
the exible membrane vacuum bag. The exible mem Z-pinning
brane can be a reusable silicone material or an extruded
polymer lm. After sealing the part inside the vacuum
Composite fabrication usually involves wetting, mixing bag, a vacuum is drawn on the part (and held) during
or saturating the reinforcement with the matrix, and then cure. This process can be performed at either ambient
causing the matrix to bind together (with heat or a chem- or elevated temperature with ambient atmospheric presical reaction) into a rigid structure. The operation is usu- sure acting upon the vacuum bag. A vacuum pump is
ally done in an open or closed forming mold, but the order typically used to draw a vacuum. An economical method
and ways of introducing the ingredients varies consider- of drawing a vacuum is with a venturi vacuum and air
compressor.
ably.

5.1

Mold overview

A vacuum bag is a bag made of strong rubber-coated

fabric or a polymer lm used to compress the part during
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 single 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 approaching 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 temperaturecontrolled oven, oil bath or water bath and gently heated
to accelerate curing.

Within a mold, the reinforcing and matrix materials are

combined, compacted, and cured (processed) to undergo
a melding event. After the melding event, the part shape
is essentially set, although it can deform under certain
process conditions. For a thermoset polymeric matrix
material, the melding event is a curing reaction that is
initiated by the application of additional heat or chemical reactivity such as an organic peroxide. For a thermoplastic polymeric matrix material, the melding event is a
solidication from the melted state. For a metal matrix
material such as titanium foil, the melding event is a fusing at high pressure and a temperature near the melting Vacuum bagging is widely used in the composites industry as well. Carbon ber fabric and berglass, along with
point.
resins and epoxies are common materials laminated toFor many moulding methods, it is convenient to refer to
gether with a vacuum bag operation.
one mould piece as a lower mould and another mould
piece as an upper mould. Lower and upper refer to the
Woodworking applications
dierent faces of the moulded panel, not the moulds conguration in space. In this convention, there is always a
lower mould, and sometimes an upper mould. Part con- In commercial woodworking facilities, vacuum bags are
struction begins by applying materials to the lower mould. used to laminate curved and irregular shaped workpieces.
Lower mould and upper mould are more generalized de- Typically, polyurethane or vinyl materials are used to
scriptors than more common and specic terms such as make the bag. A tube shaped bag is open at both ends.
male side, female side, a-side, b-side, tool side, bowl, hat, The piece, or pieces to be glued are placed into the bag

5.5

Resin transfer moulding (RTM)

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.

5.5 Resin transfer moulding (RTM)

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.[7]

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 produce 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 reinforcement in the mould cavity. These variations include everything from the RTM methods used in out of autoclave
composite manufacturing for high-tech aerospace components to vacuum infusion (for resin infusion see also
boat building) to vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (VARTM). This process can be performed at either
ambient or elevated temperature.

5.3

5.6 Other fabrication methods

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.

Pressure bag molding

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. Excess resin is forced out along with trapped air. This process 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.

Other types of fabrication include press moulding,

transfer moulding, pultrusion moulding, lament winding, casting, centrifugal casting, continuous casting and
slip forming. There are also forming capabilities including 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.
5.6.1 Finishing methods
The nishing of the composite parts is also critical in the
nal design. Many of these nishes will include rainerosion coatings or polyurethane coatings.

5.7 Tooling
5.4

Autoclave moulding

The mold and mold inserts are referred to as tooling. The mold/tooling can be constructed from a variety of materials. Tooling materials include invar, steel,
aluminium, reinforced silicone rubber, nickel, and carbon
ber. Selection of the tooling material is typically based
on, but not limited to, the coecient of thermal expansion, expected number of cycles, end item tolerance, desired or required surface condition, method of cure, glass
transition temperature of the material being moulded,
moulding method, matrix, cost and a variety of other considerations.

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. Reinforcement materials can be placed manually or robotically. They include continuous bre forms fashioned
into textile constructions. Most often, they are preimpregnated 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 6 Physical properties
elevated pressure and elevated temperature. The use of
elevated pressure facilitates a high bre volume fraction The physical properties of composite materials are genand low void content for maximum structural eciency. erally not isotropic (independent of direction of applied

force) in nature, but rather are typically anisotropic (different depending on the direction of the applied force or
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
design of the panel. For instance, the bre reinforcement
and matrix used, the method of panel build, thermoset
versus thermoplastic, type of weave, and orientation of
bre axis to the primary force.
In contrast, isotropic materials (for example, aluminium
or steel), in standard wrought forms, typically have the
same stiness regardless of the directional orientation of
the applied forces and/or moments.
The relationship between forces/moments and
strains/curvatures for an isotropic material can be
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
of a second order tensor and up to 21 material property
constants. For the special case of orthogonal isotropy,
there are three dierent material property constants for
each of Youngs Modulus, Shear Modulus and Poissons
ratioa total of 9 constants to describe the relationship
between forces/moments and strains/curvatures.
Techniques that take advantage of the anisotropic properties of the materials include mortise and tenon joints (in
natural composites such as wood) and Pi Joints in synthetic composites.

REFERENCES

to catastrophic break-up of the vehicle when it re-entered

the Earths atmosphere on 1 February 2003.
Compared to metals, composites have relatively poor
bearing strength.

6.2 Testing
To aid in predicting and preventing failures, composites
are tested before and after construction. Pre-construction
testing may use nite element analysis (FEA) for plyby-ply analysis of curved surfaces and predicting wrinkling, crimping and dimpling of composites.[8] Materials may be tested during manufacturing and after construction through several nondestructive methods including ultrasonics, thermography, shearography and X-ray
radiography,[9] and laser bond inspection for NDT of relative bond strength integrity in a localized area.

7 See also
Aluminium composite panel
American Composites Manufacturers Association
Chemical vapour inltration
Epoxy granite
Nanocomposites
Hybrid material

6.1

Failure

Shock, impact, or repeated cyclic stresses can cause the

laminate to separate at the interface between two layers,
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
scale. Compression failures can occur at both the macro
scale or at each individual reinforcing ber in compression buckling. Tension failures can be net section failures
of the part or degradation of the composite at a microscopic scale where one or more of the layers in the composite fail in tension of the matrix or failure of the bond
between the matrix and bers.
Some composites are brittle and have little reserve
strength beyond the initial onset of failure while others
may have large deformations and have reserve energy absorbing capacity past the onset of damage. The variations
in bers and matrices that are available and the mixtures
that can be made with blends leave a very broad range of
properties that can be designed into a composite structure. The best known failure of a brittle ceramic matrix
composite occurred when the carbon-carbon composite
tile on the leading edge of the wing of the Space Shuttle
Columbia fractured when impacted during take-o. It led

Composite laminates
Rule of mixtures
Void (composites)..
Composite

8 References
[1] M. A. McEvoy and N. Correll. Materials that couple sensing, 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
[3] Minerals commodity summary cement 2007. US
United States Geological Survey. 1 June 2007. Retrieved
16 January 2008.
[4] Heather Lechtman and Linn Hobbs Roman Concrete
and the Roman Architectural Revolution, Ceramics and
Civilization Volume 3: High Technology Ceramics: Past,
Present, Future, edited by W.D. Kingery and published
by the American Ceramics Society, 1986; and Vitruvius,
Book II:v,1; Book V:xii2

[5] http://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_02/BioRes_
02_4_534_535_Hubbe_L_BioResJ_Editorial_
LoveHate.pdf
[6] David Hon and Nobuo Shiraishi, eds. (2001) Wood and
cellulose chemistry, 2nd ed. (New York: Marcel Dekker),
p. 5 .
[7] Vacuum Bags For Woodworking.
[8] Waterman, Pamela J. The Life of Composite Materials.
Desktop Engineering Magazine. April 2007.
[9] Matzkanin, George A.; Yolken, H. Thomas. Techniques
for the Nondestructive Evaluation of Polymer Matrix
Composites (PDF). AMMTIAC Quarterly 2 (4).

Further reading
Robert M. Jones (1999). Mechanics of Composite Materials (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN
9781560327127.
Autar K. Kaw (2005). Mechanics of Composite Materials (2nd ed.). CRC. ISBN 0-8493-1343-0.
Handbook of Polymer Composites for Engineers By
Leonard Hollaway Published 1994 Woodhead Publishing
Matthews, F.L. & Rawlings, R.D. (1999). Composite Materials: Engineering and Science. Boca Raton:
CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0621-3.

10

External links

Distance learning course in polymers and composites

High Density Composites Replace Lead
Strength of Composites
Composite Sandwich Structure of Minardi F1 Car
OptiDAT composite material database
Tests originally developed to test metals have been
adapted by the industry to test composites

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TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Composite material Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_material?oldid=705386871 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Bryan Derksen, SimonP, Heron, Michael Hardy, Kku, Ellywa, Ahoerstemeier, Suisui, Darkwind, JidGom, Owen, BenBreen2003, RedWolf, Greudin,
Yosri, Eliashedberg, Tobias Bergemann, 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, SmackBot, Nathaniel, Moeron, Reedy, Slashme, Hydrogen Iodide, Pgk, Ultramandk, Commander Keane bot, Gilliam, Hmains, Chris the
speller, Bluebot, Keegan, Jprg1966, Oli Filth, PrimeHunter, MidgleyDJ, Nbarth, Nick Levine, Frap, Foxcreekcowboy, Bardsandwarriors,
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, SummonerMarc,
Thijs!bot, Epbr123, NorwegianBlue, Greg L, Prasun92, AntiVandalBot, Tyco.skinner, Farosdaughter, Cguil uk, Golgofrinchian, JAnDbot,
T-850 Robotic Assistant, Barek, MER-C, VoABot II, 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, STBotD, Kvdveer, Inwind, Useight, Bertiethecat, Lights, VolkovBot, Je G., Jmrowland, AlnoktaBOT, Jomasecu, Nbvvbn, Mbvanleeuwen, Anna Lincoln, Kovianyo, LeaveSleaves, Eoinsimon, Falcon8765, Enviroboy, MCTales, Dylansmrjones, SieBot, VK35, Qwertythecat, Dawn Bard, Smsarmad, Yintan, Flippythewalrus, Kirt Butler, Student1980~enwiki, LADave, Permacultura, Jojalozzo, SouthLake, Creasyts, Spitre19, Bkumartvm, Dolphin51, ImageRemovalBot, Tanvir Ahmmed, 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, Ranjithsutari, Sivakamitvm, SoxBot III, Elliskid, XLinkBot,
ChyranandChloe, Rror, Plamal, Dthomsen8, Nicoguaro, Facts707, WikHead, Jamusmax, Alexius08, Vaidheestvm, Dfoxvog, Vtaber02,
Luwilt, Addbot, Deltasquared, Kerina yin, Queenmomcat, Mbw5014, Ronhjones, Fieldday-sunday, Physchem, Vikramaditya1986, MrOllie, AndersBot, West.andrew.g, Jsummerscales, Compositedoorshop, Romaioi, Arbitrarily0, Vegaswikian1, Frehley, Luckas-bot, Yobot,
Jnavas2, Apollionus, Kandi111777, KamikazeBot, Nasier Alcofribas, Coxt001, AnomieBOT, Tomcox, Daniele Pugliesi, Dwayne, Kingpin13, Materialscientist, Citation bot, Jain034567, Cureden, 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, ZroBot, Dgd, Demonkoryu, Crazyhug, Rcsprinter123, TyA, Dr eng x, Teapeat,
Kipediwi, ClueBot NG, Mechanical digger, Incompetence, Rtucker913, Rezabot, Widr, PaoloNapolitano, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gluonman,
JayjayVicious, Dsajga, Emayv, Cases2Go, Mark Arsten, SPI IPF, Cherry,charan, Martijnrd, Rimianika, Klilidiplomus, Total-MAdMaN,
Padenton, Emreyurtseven, Simon.white.1000, Hmainsbot1, Yetanotherwriter, PauloMSimoes, Frosty, Gdwww, Kate748, Fibrelite Hayley,
Anna8325, Lizia7, Matsci2, Sedolo55, Monkbot, Volker Siegel, O.Balkan, Twtmidget, Rockyuan79, Trackteur, FriendlyCaribou, Crystallizedcarbon, Benimebob, EChastain, Steervguyjdeagnjhaecmheavmhgaecgdjdksu, RebeccaRuck, Spthirtythree, Andrecliord, KasparBot,
Brendon Mcclullum, CompositesUK and Anonymous: 451

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Images

File:Cfk_heli_slw.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Cfk_heli_slw.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Larsen25
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Composite_3d.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Composite_3d.png License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: PerOX
File:Composites_Materials.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Composites_Materials.png License:
CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Kokcharov
File:Concrete_aggregate_grinding.JPG Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Concrete_aggregate_
grinding.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Glare_honeycomb.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Glare_honeycomb.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://ballistics.grc.nasa.gov/Photographic%20Data/Images/glare_honeycomb.jpg Original artist: NASA
File:Glass_reinforcements.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Glass_reinforcements.jpg License: CC
BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Cjp24
File:Spruce_plywood.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Spruce_plywood.JPG License: CC BY-SA
3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Bystander
File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg License:
CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: This le was derived from Wiki letter w.svg: <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Wiki_letter_w.svg' class='image'><img alt='Wiki letter w.svg' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wiki_
letter_w.svg/50px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png' width='50' height='50' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/
Wiki_letter_w.svg/75px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wiki_letter_w.svg/
100px-Wiki_letter_w.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='44' data-le-height='44' /></a>
Original artist: Derivative work by Thumperward

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Content license

Content license

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