What are Composite Materials?
Composite materials for construction, engineering, and other similar applications are formed by combining two or more materials in such a way that the constituents of the composite materials are still distinguishable, and not fully blended. One example of a composite material is concrete, which uses cement as a binding material in combination with gravel as a reinforcement. In many cases, concrete uses rebar as a second reinforcement, making it a three-phase composite, because of the three elements involved. Composite materials take advantage of the different strengths and abilities of different materials. In the case of mud and straw bricks, for example, mud is an excellent binding material, but it cannot stand up to compression and force well. Straw, on the other hand, is well able to withstand compression without crumbling or breaking, and so it serves to reinforce the binding action of the mud. Humans have been creating composite materials to build stronger and lighter objects for
Any material which is made up of a mixture of other materials could be defined as a composite material. By combining two or more materials, you can prepare a composite which has more desirable properties than any of its individual components. In one form or another, composite materials have been with us since the beginning of the Bronze Age. [bronze is an alloy of copper and tin] Cement is strengthened by the addition of small rocks or steel rods. Steel (itself, a mixture of iron and certain additives) is very strong, but it can be bent out of shape. Concrete is strong, but not flexible enough to withstand the heavy winds of a hurricane or the vibrations of an earthquake. When you combine steel and cement in building materials, you get the “best of both worlds.” Much of the clothing you wear is a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. This gives you an outfit that “breaths” well and feels natural, but is also inexpensive and resistant to wrinkles. There are numerous formulations of roa
A composite material is one in which two or more separate materials have been combined to make a single construct having more desirable properties. What many people don’t realize is that composites are probably the most common structural materials in the world, and have always been an essential part of their lives. Concrete, paper, corrugated cardboard, plywood, fiberglass, bamboo, cornstalks, trees, bricks… all are composite materials. Far from being a new invention, composite materials are the main structural elements of nature. Take a close look at the grain and structure of a piece of wood, and you will see how its strength comes from a structure of fibers bound together side by side. Man’s first use of such composite materials was probably the adobe brick. Mud or clay can be shaped and dried into a hard block, but that kind of block has little load bearing strength and can be easily crushed by the weight of other blocks on top of it. At some point in time, it was found that mixi
COMPOSITES by the literal meaning of the word are something made from a collection of parts or elements. In the case of the racing car or aerospace industry the term is applied generally to two categories of materials. Metals as in things like metal matrix composites — and fiber/ resin combinations like polyester resin and glass fibers (commonly called fiber glass) or epoxy resin and carbon fibers (commonly called carbon fiber). Most of the time when composites are talked about it is the resin fiber stuff that is the center of the discussion. The background of this technology can be explained a few different ways the method we will use a comparative analogy to something that occurs in nature combined with a simplification of some physics. One of the materials that is relatively light and strong and occurs in nature is wood. Wood has for a long time been one of our (human for most of us) species most versatile engineering material. We have constructed everything from vehicles that floa
