How Many Types of Composites Are There?
Types of composites include: • fibrous (fibers bonded by a matrix) • laminar (layers of bonded materials) • particulate (particles, flakes or fillers bound in a matrix) • hybrid (any combination of 1, 2 or 3). How Are Composites Made? Composites result from the mixing and blending of resins (also called polymers) with fillers or fiber reinforcements. Polymer resins are as old as bugs and trees. Rosin, for example, is an organic resin collected and distilled from certain pines. Manmade polymer resins (generally called synthetic resins) are derivatives of crude- or bio-oils. Yet all polymers share a common property, being composed of long ‘chain like’ molecules with exceptional bonding strength. At left: Raw amber approximately 90 million years old. Often regarded as a gemstone, Amber is tree resin that polymerized (hardened) thousands of years ago and was preserved by certain environmental conditions. What Are Synthetic Polymer Resins? Synthetic polymer resins are classified as either t
