Composites

Composite
A composite material is defined as a material which is composed of two or
more materials at a microscopic scale and has chemically distinct phases.
Two or more chemically different constituents combined
macroscopically to yield a useful material.

1. The combination of materials should result in significant property changes.

One can see significant changes when one of the constituent material is in
platelet or fibrous from.
2. The content of the constituents is generally more than 10% (by volume).
3. In general, property of one constituent is much greater than the
corresponding property of the other constituent.

These are not composites!

Plastics: Even though they may have several fillers, their presence does not alter
the physical properties significantly.
Alloys: Here the alloy is not macroscopically heterogeneous, especially in
terms of physical properties.
Metals with impurities: The presence of impurities does not significantly alter
physical properties of the metal.

Examples of naturally occurring composites

Wood: Cellulose fibers bound by lignin matrix
Bone: Stiff mineral fibers in a soft organic matrix permeated with holes filled with
liquids
Granite: Granular composite of quartz, feldspar, and mica
Examples of manmade composites
Concrete: Particulate composite of aggregates (limestone or granite), sand, cement
and water
Plywood: Several layers of wood veneer glued together
Fiberglass: Plastic matrix reinforced by glass fibers
Cemets: Ceramic and metal composites
Fibrous composites: Variety of fibers (glass, kevlar, graphite, nylon, etc.) bound
together by a polymeric matrix

What are the roles of the constituents of composite material:

(i) Role of Reinforcements: Reinforcements give high strength, stiffness and other improved
mechanical properties to the composites. Also their contribution to other properties such as the
co-efficient of thermal expansion , conductivity etc is remarkable.
(ii) Role of Matrices: Even though having inferior properties than that of reinforcements, its
physical presence is must;

to give shape to the composite part

to keep the fibers in place

to transfer stresses to the fibers

to protect the reinforcement from the environment, such as chemicals & moisture

to protect the surface of the fibers from mechanical degradation

to act as shielding from damage due to handling

Applications
Aerospace: Lighter, stronger, temperature resistance, smart structures, wear
resistance
Aircraft: Nose, doors, struts, trunnion, fairings, cowlings, ailerons, outboard
and inboard flaps, stabilizers, elevators, rudders, fin tips, spoilers, edges
Rockets & missiles: Nose, body, pressure tanks, frame, fuel tanks,
turbomotor stators, etc.
Satellites: Antennae, frames, structural partsTransportation &
Infrastructure: Lighter, stronger, toughness, damping
Railway coaches
Bridges
Ships and boats
Dams
Truck bodies and floors

 Automotive industry: Lighter, stronger, wear resistance, rustfree,

aesthetics
Car body
Brake pads
Drive shafts
Fuel tanks
Hoods
Spoilers And many more industry sectors
Biomedical industry
Consumer goods
Agricultural equipment
Heavy machinery
Computers
Healthcare

Polymer Matrix Composites

The polymeric matrix materials are further divided into:
1. Thermoplastic which soften upon heating and can be reshaped with heat and pressure.
2. Thermoset which become cross linked during fabrication and does not soften upon reheating.
What are the thermoplastic matrix materials? What are their key features?
The following are the thermoplastic materials:
1. polypropylene, 2. polyvinyl chloride, 3. nylon, 4. polyurethane, 5. polyphenylene sulfide (PPS),
The key features of the thermoplastic matrix materials are:
1. higher toughness 2. high volume 3. low cost processing 4. The use temperature range is upto 225deg
What are the thermoset matrix materials? What are their key features?
The thermoset matrix materials are:
Polyesters Epoxy Polyimide
What are the problems with the use of polymer matrix materials?
1. Limited temperature range.
2. Susceptibility to environmental degradation due to moisture, radiation, atomic oxygen (in space)
3. Low transverse strength.
4. High residual stress due to large mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between fiber and matrix.

METALMATRIX COMPOSITES
As the name implies, for metal-matrix composites (MMCs), the matrix is a ductile metal. These materials may be utilized at
higher service temperatures than their base metal counterparts; furthermore, the reinforcement may improve specific
stiffness, specific strength, abrasion resistance, creep resistance, thermal conductivity, and dimensional stability. Some of
the advantages of these materials over the polymer matrix composites include higher operating temperatures, nonflammability, and greater resistance to degradation by organic fluids. Metal-matrix composites are much more expensive
than PMCs, and, therefore, their (MMC) use is somewhat restricted. The super-alloys, as well as alloys of aluminum,
magnesium, titanium, and copper, are employed as matrix materials.
Advantages:
1. Higher transfer strength, 2. High toughness (in contrast with brittle behavior of polymers and ceramics)
3. The absence of moisture and 4. High thermal conductivity (copper and aluminum).
Dis-advantages:
1. Heavier 2. More susceptible to interface degradation at the fiber/matrix interface and
3. Corrosion is a major problem for the metals
The attractive feature of the metal matrix composites is the higher temperature use. The aluminum matrix composite can be
used in the temperature range upward of 300C while the titanium matrix composites can be used above 800.
Continuous fiber materials include carbon, silicon carbide, boron, alumina, and the refractory metals. On the other hand,
discontinuous reinforcements consist primarily of silicon carbide whiskers, chopped fibers of alumina and carbon, and
particulates of silicon carbide and alumina.

The common metals used as matrix materials are aluminum, titanium and copper.
Advantages:
1. Higher transfer strength, 2. High toughness (in contrast with brittle behavior of polymers and ceramics)
3. The absence of moisture and 4. High thermal conductivity (copper and aluminum).
Dis-advantages:
1. Heavier 2. More susceptible to interface degradation at the fiber/matrix interface and 3. Corrosion is a
major problem for the metals
The attractive feature of the metal matrix composites is the higher temperature use. The aluminum matrix
composite can be used in the temperature range upward of 300C while the titanium matrix composites can
be used above 800 .
The cermets are examples of ceramicmetal composites. The most common cermet is the cemented carbide, which is
composed of extremely hard particles of a refractory carbide ceramic such as tungsten carbide (WC) or titanium
carbide (TiC), embedded in a matrix of a metal such as cobalt or nickel. These composites are utilized extensively as
cutting tools for hardened steels. The hard carbide particles provide the cutting surface but, being extremely brittle,
are not themselves capable of withstanding the cutting stresses. Toughness is enhanced by their inclusion in the
ductile metal matrix, which isolates the carbide particles from one another and prevents particle-to-particle crack
propagation. Both matrix and particulate phases are quite refractory, to withstand the high temperatures generated by
the cutting action on materials that are extremely hard. No single material could possibly provide the combination of
properties possessed by a cermet. Relatively large volume fractions of the particulate phase may be utilized, often thus
the abrasive action of the composite is maximized.

Ceramics can be described as solid materials which exhibit very strong ionic bonding in general and in few cases
covalent bonding. High melting points, good corrosion resistance, stability at elevated temperatures and high
compressive strength, render ceramic-based matrix materials a favourite for applications requiring a structural material
that doesnt give way at temperatures above 1500C. Naturally, ceramic matrices are the obvious choice for high
temperature applications.
High modulus of elasticity and low tensile strain, which most ceramics posses, have combined to cause the failure of
attempts to add reinforcements to obtain strength improvement. This is because at the stress levels at which ceramics
rupture, there is insufficient elongation of the matrix which keeps composite from transferring an effective quantum of
load to the reinforcement and the composite may fail unless the percentage of fiber volume is high enough. A material is
reinforcement to utilize the higher tensile strength of the fiber, to produce an increase in load bearing capacity of the
matrix. Addition of high-strength fiber to a weaker ceramic has not always been successful and often the resultant
composite has proved to be weaker.
The use of reinforcement with high modulus of elasticity may take care of the problem to some extent and presents prestressing of the fiber in the ceramic matrix is being increasingly resorted to as an option.
When ceramics have a higher thermal expansion coefficient than reinforcement materials, the resultant composite is
unlikely to have a superior level of strength. In that case, the composite will develop strength within ceramic at the time of
cooling resulting in microcracks extending from fiber to fiber within the matrix. Microcracking can result in a composite
with tensile strength lower than that of the matrix.

The carbon, silicon carbide and silicon nitride are ceramics and used as matrix materials.

Ceramic:
The advantages of the ceramic matrix materials are:
1. The ceramic composites have very high temperature range of above 2000 .
2. High elastic modulus
3. Low density
The disadvantages of the ceramic matrix materials are:
1. The ceramics are very brittle in nature.
2. Hence, they are susceptible to flows.

Carbon
The advantages of the carbon matrix materials are:
1. High temperature at 2200 . 2. Carbon/carbon bond is stronger at elevated temperature than room
temperature.
The disadvantages of the carbon matrix materials are:
1. The fabrication is expensive. 2. The multistage processing results in complexity and higher additional cost.
It should be noted that a composite with carbon fibres as reinforcement as well as matrix material is known as
carbon-carbon composite. The application of carbon-carbon composite is seen in leading edge of the space
shuttle where the high temperature resistance is required. The carboncarbon composites can resist the
temperatures upto 3000 .
The advantages of these composites are:
1. Very strong and light as compared to graphite fibre alone. 2. Low density. 3. Excellent tensile and
compressive strength. 4. Low thermal conductivity. 5. High fatigue resistance. 6. High coefficient of friction.
The disadvantages include:
1. Susceptible to oxidation at elevated temperatures. 2. High material and production cost.
3. Low shear strength.

Terminologies in Composites
1. Filament: individual element
2. Strand: Bundles of 204 filaments or multiple of these.
3. Roving: Combination of strands to form thicker parallel bundles.
4. Tow: Bundle of twisted or untwisted continuous fibers. A tow may
contain tens or hundreds of thousands of individual filaments.

Advantages of Composites
1. Specific stiffness and specific strength:
The composite materials have high specific stiffness and strengths. Thus, these material offer better properties at lesser
weight as compared to conventional materials. Due to this, one gets improved performance at reduced energy
consumption.
2. Tailorable design:
A large set of design parameters are available to choose from. Thus, making the design procedure more versatile. The
available design parameters are:
Choice of materials (fiber/matrix), volume fraction of fiber and matrix, fabrication method, layer orientation, no. of
layer/laminae in a given direction, thickness of individual layers, type of layers (fabric/unidirectional) stacking
sequence.
A component can be designed to have desired properties in specific directions.
3. Fatigue Life:
The composites can with stand more number of fatigue cycles than that of aluminum. The critical structural
components in aircraft require high fatigue life. The use of composites in fabrication of such structural components is
thus justified.
4. Dimensional Stability:
Strain due to temperature can change shape, size, increase friction, wear and thermal stresses. The dimensional
stability is very important in application like space antenna. For composites, with proper design it is possible to
achieve almost zero coefficient of thermal expansion.

5. Corrosion Resistance:
Polymer and ceramic matrix material used to make composites have high resistance
to corrosion from moisture, chemicals.
6. Cost Effective Fabrication:
The components fabricated from composite are cost effective with automated
methods like filament winding, pultrusion and tape laying. There is a lesser wastage
of the raw materials as the product is fabricated to the final product size unlike in
metals.
7. Conductivity:
The conductivity of the composites can be achieved to make it a insulator or a
highly conducting material. For example, Glass/polyesters are non conducting
materials. These materials can be used in space ladders, booms etc. where one
needs higher dimensional stability, whereas copper matrix material gives a high
thermal conductivity.

Disadvantages of Composites
1. Some fabrics are very hard on tooling.

2. Hidden defects are difficult to locate. Inspection may require special tools and processes.
3. Filament-wound parts may not be repairable. Repairing may introduce new problems.
4. High cost of raw materials, High initial cost of tooling, production set-up, etc.

5. Labour intensive, Training of the labour is essential.

6. Environmental issues like disposal and waste management.
7. Reuse of the materials is difficult.
8. Storage of frozen pre-pregs demands for additional equipments and adds to the cost of production.
9. Health and safety concerns. Extreme cleanliness required.
10. The composites, in general, are brittle in nature and hence easily damageable.
11. The matrix material is weak and hence the composite has low toughness.
12. The transverse properties of lamina or laminate are, in general, weak.

13. The analysis of the composites is difficult due to heterogeneity and orthotropy.

A. Wet/Hand Lay-Up

The fibres are first put in place in the mould.

The fibres can be in the form of woven, knitted, stitched or bonded fabrics.
Then the resin is impregnated. The impregnation of resin is done by using rollers, brushes or a nip-roller type
impregnator. The impregnation helps in forcing the resin inside the fabric.
The laminates fabricated by this process are then cured under standard atmospheric conditions.
The materials that can be used have, in general, no restrictions. One can use combination of
resins like epoxy, polyester, vinylester, phenolic and any fibre material.

Advantages:
The process results in low cost tooling with the use of room-temperature cure resins.
The process is simple to use.

Any combination of fibres and matrix materials are used.

Higher fibre contents and longer fibres as compared to other processes.
Disadvantages:

Since the process is worked by hands, there are safety and hazard considerations.
The resin needs to be less viscous so that it can be easily worked by hands.
The quality of the final product is highly skill dependent of the labours.

Uniform distribution of resin inside the fabric is not possible. It leads to voids in the
laminates.
Possibility of diluting the contents.

Applications:
The process is suitable for the fabrication of wind-turbine blades, boats and architectural mouldings.

B. Spray Lay-Up

Fibre is chopped in a hand-held gun and fed into a spray of catalyzed resin directed at the mould.
The deposited materials are left to cure under standard atmospheric conditions.
The polyester resins used with glass rovings is best suited for this process.

Advantages:
It is suitable for small to medium-volume parts.
It is a very economical process for making small to large parts.
It utilizes low-cost tooling as well as low-cost material systems.
Limitations:
It is not suitable for making parts that have high structural requirements.
It is difficult to control the fiber volume fraction as well as the thickness. These parameters highly
depend on operator skill.
Because of its open mold nature, styrene emission is a concern.
The process offers a good surface finish on one side and a rough surface finish on the other side.
The process is not suitable for parts where dimensional accuracy and process repeatability are prime
concerns. The spray-up process does not provide a good surface finish or dimensional control on both
or all the sides of the product.
Cores, when needed, have to be inserted manually.
Only short fibres can be used in this process.
Since, pressurized resin is used the laminates tend to be very resin-rich.
Similar to wet/hand lay-up process, the resins need to be of low viscosity so that it can be sprayed.
Applications:
Simple enclosures, lightly loaded structural panels, e.g. caravan bodies, truck fairings, bathtubs, shower
trays, some small dinghies.

C. Autoclave Curing
The key features of this process are as follows:

An autoclave is a closed vessel for controlling

temperature and pressure is used for curing
polymeric matrix composites.
Composites to be cured is prepared either
through hand lay up or machine placement of
individual laminae in the form of fibers tape
which has been impregnated with resin.
Components is then placed in an autoclave
and subjected to a controlled cycle of
temperature and pressure.
After curing, the composite is solidified.

One can use the fibres like carbon, glass,

aramid etc. along with any resin.

Advantages:
Large components can be fabricated.
Since, the curing of matrix material is carried out under controlled environment, the
resin distribution is better as compared to hand or spray lay-up processes.
Less possibility of dilution with foreign particles.
Better surface finish.
Disadvantages:
Initial cost of tooling is high.
Running and maintenance cost is high.
Not suitable for small products.
Applications:
The process is suitable for aerospace, automobile parts like wing box, chassis, bumpers,
etc.

D. Filament Winding:
This process is an automated process. This process is used in the fabrication of components or
structures made with flexible fibers. This process is primarily used for hollow, generally circular or oval
sectioned components.
Fibre tows are passed through a resin bath before being wound onto a mandrel in a variety of
orientations, controlled by the fibre feeding mechanism, and rate of rotation of the mandrel.
The wound component is then cured in an oven or autoclave.
One can use resins like epoxy, polyester, vinylester and phenolic along with any fibre. The fibre can be
directly from creel, non-woven or stitched into a fabric form

Advantages:
Resin content is controlled by nips or dies.
The process can be very fast.
The process is economic.
Complex fibre patterns can be attained for better load bearing of the structure.
Disadvantages:
Resins with low viscosity are needed.
The process is limited to convex shaped components.
Fibre cannot easily be laid exactly along the length of a component.
Mandrel costs for large components can be high.
The external surface of the component is not smoothly finished.
Applications:
Pressure bottles, rocket motor casing, chemical storage tanks, pipelines, gas
cylinders, firefighters, breathing tanks etc

Pultrusion is a process which is continuous type and it is done on three shifts. Specifically ideal for mass production
which is very much similar to the profile extrusion process. The difference is that pultrusion doesn't provide the
uniformity and flexibility of product control and / or automation. With this process, high output is very much
expected and it is used to constantly produce simple shapes like tubes, rods, and angles. These mainly incorporate
reinforcement like fiberglass and others. With this process, products with higher strengths can be made. Actually, the
process of pultrusion can be used in the construction of road bridges. To achieve the loadings of up to 60% glass,
excellent fibre alignment is important which is ensured by including glass or other fibers into the extrusion

E. Pultrusion

Reinforcing fibers are pulled from creel

Reinforcements are guided towards the impregnation station that passes via preforming station. Here, the mats and
rovings are carefully guided in the consecutive steps.
Impregnation of the entire filament of every roving & mat takes place, as these pass via the bath having the resin
formulation
Composite material is introduced in the heated steel die, which is precision-machined to the profile's final shape that is
to be produced
At the time of pulling the material through the die, an exothermic reaction is initiated in the thermosetting resin matrix
At last, a profile with final cross-sectional dimensions, exits the pultrusion die. This profile is completely cured. For
constant movement, the pulling Finally, the profile is cut to the required length by the way of automating flying cut-off
saw.

Reinforcements

Stitched Mat
Direct Rovings

Resins

Polyester
Epoxy
Vinyl Ester
Phenolic

Resin Impregnation
Molding
Pulling and Cut Off

The reinforcement passes through a resin bath and is suitably

impregnated with resin.
The resin impregnated reinforcement is introduced in the heated die. Here it is
cured into a solid composite, which exits from the die.
The solid cured composite is constantly pulled for continuous production. An
automatic saw at the downstream end issued for cutting the product to the
required length.

Advantages:
The process is suitable for mass production.
Volatile emissions are limited by enclosing the resin impregnation area
The process is fast and economic.
Resin content can be accurately controlled.
Fibre cost is minimized as it can be taken directly from a creel.
The surface finish of the product is good.
Structural properties of product can be very good as the profiles have very straight fibres.
Disadvantages:
Limited to constant or near constant cross-section components.
Heated die costs can be high.
Products with small cross-sections alone can be fabricated.
It is difficult to pultrude a profile with complex cross section
High initial investments
Only the uniform cross section profiles are feasible
Applications:
Beams and girders used in roof structures, bridges, ladders, frameworks

F. Resin Transfer Molding - RTM

The process consists of arranging the fibres or cloth fabrics in the desired configuration in a preform. These
fabrics are sometimes pre-pressed to the mould shape, and held together by a binder.

A second matching mould tool is then clamped over the first.

Then pressurized resin is injected into the cavity. Vacuum can also be applied to the mould cavity to assist
resin in being drawn into the fabrics. This is known as Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VARTM) or

Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection (VARI).

The laminate is then cured. Both injection and cure can take place at either ambient or elevated temperature.

Resins: Epoxy, polyester, vinylester and phenolic can be

used.
Fibres: Any type but stitched materials work well in this
process since the gaps allow rapid resin transport. Some
specially developed fabrics can assist with resin flow.

Advantages:
The process is very efficient. Suitable for complex shapes.
High fibre volume laminates can be obtained with very low void contents.

Good health and safety, and environmental control due to enclosure of resin.
Possible labour reductions.
Both sides of the component have a moulded surface. Hence, the final product gets a superior surface

finish
Better reproducibility.
Relatively low clamping pressure and ability to induce inserts.

Disadvantages:
Matched tooling is expensive and heavy in order to withstand pressures.
Generally limited to smaller components.

Unimpregnated areas can occur resulting in very expensive scrap parts.

Applications:
The applications include the hollow cylindrical parts like motor casing, engine covers, etc.

G. Vacuum Bagging:
This is basically an extension of the wet lay-up process where pressure is applied to the laminate once
laid-up in order to improve its consolidation.

This is achieved by sealing a plastic film over the wet laid-up laminate and onto the tool.
The air under the bag is extracted by a vacuum pump and thus up to one atmosphere of pressure can
be applied to the laminate to consolidate it.

Materials Options:
Resins: Primarily epoxy and phenolic. Polyesters and vinylesters may have problems due to excessive
extraction of styrene from the resin by the vacuum pump.

Fibres: The consolidation pressures mean that a variety of heavy fabrics can be wetout.
Cores: Any
Advantages:

Higher fibre content laminates can usually be achieved than with standard wet lay-up techniques.
Lower void contents are achieved than with wet lay-up.
Better fibre wet-out due to pressure and resin flow throughout structural fibres, with excess into bagging

materials.
Health and safety: The vacuum bag reduces the amount of volatiles emitted during cure.
Disadvantages:

The extra process adds cost both in labour and in disposable bagging materials.
A higher level of skill is required by the operators.
Mixing and control of resin content still largely determined by operator skill.

Applications:
Large one-off cruising boats, race car components, core-bonding in production boats.

Centrifugal Casting:
In this process the chopped fibres and the resin is sent under pressure to the cylindrical moulding. The moulding
is rotating. Due to centrifugal action, the mixture of resin and chopped fibres get deposited on wall of the
moulding. Thus, the mixture gets the final form of the product.
Advantages:
1. Suitable for small hollow cylindrical products.
2. Economic for small production.
Disadvantages:
1. Complex shape can not be made.
2. Resin with low viscosity is needed.
3. The finish of the inner side of the product is not good.
4. The structural properties may not be good as the chopped fibres are used.
Applications:
The applications include the hollow cylindrical parts like motor casing, engine covers, etc.