28.12.

2010 Composite Materials

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Copyright © 1998-2005 by Pichai Rusmee

Objective Objectives
Lecture
Lab work This laboratory will explore the basic stress analysis techniques used to
Data Reduction determined the material properties such as the modulus of elasticity and the
Handout Poisson's ratio. This could also be extended to determining other material
Miscellaneous properties such as proportional limit, yield strength, ultimate strength, or
fracture strength of a material. It will be demonstrated in the lab that what
so call the material properties are not constant under different type of load
configuration. At the same time, it will be demonstrated that these material
properties could be determined from different type of testing. The students
should also learn that the same material properties in different type of
loading, i.e., bending, tension, or compression, could be approximated if
some of these properties are known.

In addition to basic stress analysis techniques, students will be exposed to a

material not considered to be traditional engineering material, i.e.,
composite. The use of uniaxial composite will show a more general case of
material model that goes beyond the isotropic Hooke's law. The most
general case of constitutive equations will be discussed then simplified down
to the case of transversely isotropic material that will be the material used in
this laboratory.

Objective Lecture
Lecture
Lab work Composites
Data Reduction A Composite in engineering sense is any materials that have been physically
Handout assembled to form one single bulk without physical blending to foam a
Miscellaneous homogeneous material. The resulting material would still have components
identifiable as the constituent of the different materials. One of the
advantage of composite is that two or more materials could be combined to
take advantage of the good characteristics of each of the materials.

Usually, composite materials will consist of two separate components, the

matrix and the filler. The matrix is the component that holds the filler
together to form the bulk of the material. It usually consists of various epoxy
type polymers but other materials may be used. Metal matrix composite
and thermoplastic matrix composite are some of the possibilities. The filler
is the material that has been impregnated in the matrix to lend its advantage

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(usually strength) to the composite. The fillers can be of any material such
as carbon fiber, glass bead, sand, or ceramic.

Composites can be classified into roughly three or four types according to

the filler types:

Particulate
Short fiber
long fiber
laminate

Particulate composite consists of the composite material in which the filler

materials are roughly round. An example of this type of composite would
be the unreinforced concrete where the cement is the matrix and the sand
serves as the filler. Lead particles in copper matrix is another example
where both the matrix and the filler are metals. Cermet is a metal matrix
with ceramic filler.

Short and long fiber composites are composites in which the filler material
has a length to diameter ratio, l/d, greater than one. Short fiber composites
are generally taken to have l/d of ~100 while long fiber type would have l/d
~ ∞ . Fiber glass filler for boat panel is an example of short fiber composite.
Carbon fiber, aramid fiber (Kevlar®) fiber are some of the filler material
used in the long fiber type composites.

Laminate is the type of composite that uses the filler material in form of
sheet instead of round particles or fibers. Formica countertop is a good
example of this type of composite. The matrix material is usually phenolic
type thermoset polymer. The filler could be any material from craft paper
(Formica) to canvas (canvas phenolic) to glass (glass filled phenolic).

Since the composites are non-homogeneous, the resulting properties will be

the combination of the properties of the constituent materials. The different
type of loading may call on different component of the composite to take
the load. This implied that the material properties of composite materials
may be different in tension and in compression as well as in bending.
Throughout the lab, the subscript t, c, and b will be used to designate the
properties in tension, compression, and bending respectively.

Advantages of composite materials

The main advantage of most composites materials are in the weight savings.
A quick way to illustrate this advantage is in the strength to weight ratio.
Different materials has different strength, that is each material can take
different of amount of load for the same volume (cross sectional area) of the
material. For a given design, the material used must be strong enough to
withstand the load that is to be applied. If a material selected is not strong
enough, the part must be enlarged to increase the load bearing capacity.
But doing so increases the bulk and weight of the part. Another option is to
change material to one that has high enough strength to begin with.
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Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber can be manufactured from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber or
pitch fiber. Most carbon fibers in use in high performance application,
however, are made from PAN. The PAN fibers undergo multi step process
to drive off all the hydrogen atoms and some of the nitrogen atoms to form
honey combs networks similar to graphite. ,

Figure 2.1
Figure 2.1 Molecular structure of PAN being converted to carbon fiber.

Designation of carbon fiber composites consists of the fiber material follows

by the matrix material. For example, AS4/3501-5 means that the carbon
fiber used has the name AS4 with the epoxy name 3501 being used as the
matrix material. The 5 signifies the fifth reformulation of the 3501 epoxy.
The composite uses in this lab will likely be IM7/3501-6.

Layup
It can easily be seen that the long fiber composite will have directionality
depending on the direction in which the fibers are laid out in the composite.
Composites usually come in sheet called Prepreg. The sheet will consist
fibers preimpregnated with uncured matrix material. The sheet can be cut
and lay up in layers to form the composite. The lay up could be done in a
manner where the fibers all line up in one direction. This is called uniaxial
composite. The lay up used in this lab will be of this type due to the relative
ease of analysis. Most of the time, the prepreg sheets will be laid in different
directions. The analysis of this type of layup is beyond the scope of the lab.

In analyzingcomposite material, it is necessary to designate some type of

coordinate system. Customarily, the X-Y will designate the global
coordinate of a composite piece. Each layer in that composite may have
different fiber orientation that will require a separate coordinate system. The
direction along the fiber is designated 1 direction while the direction
transverse to it is designated 2 direction or the matrix direction. The X-Y
and 1-2 coordinate systems coincide in the case of uniaxial composite.

Figure 2.2 Schematic of uniaxial composite material.

Stress-strain relationships
Material reactions under stresses can be described by a set of constitutive
equations. For isotropic material, this is known as Hooke's law or
sometimes, in an inverse form, Lamé [la-may] equations. The 3-D Hooke's
law in matrix form is:

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This Hooke's law is in the compliance form where the strains are expressed
in term of stresses and a compliance matrix. The inverse of this expresses
the stresses in term of strain and the stiffness matrix.

Compliance form

Stiffness form

The convention is that the symbol S is used for compliance and the C is
used for the stiffness.

In the most general case, the stress or strain with subscript ij is not the
same as the one with supscript ji. The [C] and [S] matrices would each be
a [9x9] matrix. This reduces to [6x6] matrices because of the definition of
the shear stresses and strains. For the general [6x6] matrices, it will be
totally populated with non equal terms inside. This would imply that there is
a need of 36 constants to describe the stress-strain behavior of any generic
material. Invoking compatibility condition where no two materials may
occupy the same space, the [C] and the [S] must be symmetric. This leads
to the first useful set of constitutive equations describing material behavior.

Anisotropic or triclinic material has no plane of symmetry. A total of 21

material constants is needed to describe the stress-strain behavior. In
generic form:

If the material has one plane of symmetry, monoclinic, some constants are
zero and the stress-strain behavior can be described with 13 constants.

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Next simplification is when the material has 2 (3) planes of symmetry. This
is called orthotropic material. The number of constants reduces to nine.

Next simplification can be made when the material has one plane of
isotropy. That is the material has one plane of symmetry or the transverse.
This transverse plane has infinite plane of symmetry. Another word, the
material behaves in isotropic manner within that plane. This is called
transversely isotropic material. The number of independent constants
reduces to five.

The last simplification will give the inverse of the Hooke's law. That is the
material is isotropic and has infinite planes of symmetry. The number of
constants reduces down to two. They are normally express in term of three
interdependent constants E, ν, and G.

or using more familiar constants:

The isotropic case of course can be reduced even further using plane stress

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or plane strain assumption where the Z direction is ignored. Similar plane
strain and plane stress assumption can also be made for the orthotropic and
transversely isotropic materials. In this case they would reduce to exactly
the same 2-D form.

It should be note that the coordinate system in isotropic material is defined

by the loading situation, that is not the case for other materials. In all other
cases, the coordinate system is defined by the directionality of the material.

Transversely isotropic material

For the composite specimen used in this lab, the plane containing the 2
direction is the isotropic plane. Therefore, the uniaxial composite is a
transversely isotropic material. Five constants are needed to describe this
composite. In our coordinate system they are:

Inaddition,

It is necessary to keep track of the subscript of the material properties. The

subscript 1 denotes the 1 direction and the subscript 2 denotes the 2
direction. The subscript 12 denotes the reaction in 2 direction due to the act
in 1 direction. For example, ν 12 is the Poisson's ratio in the 2 direction due
to the load being applied in the 1 direction.

Writing out the transversely isotropic Hooke's law that will be required for
our analysis:

Keep in mine that the material properties in tension, compression, and

bending are different. For example, the modulus in tension, compression,
and bending for the 1 direction will all have different values. They will be
denoted as E1t, E1c, E1b.

Strain transformation equation

In the case where the stresses or strains are know in a different direction,
transformation equations could be used to calculated the stresses or strains
in the direction desired. The elementary strength of materials books usually
derive the transformation equation using the wedge method. In order to
demonstrate that the transformation equation and Mohr's circle are one and

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the same, a Mohr's circle method will be used. It is necessary that the
students be made aware of the equivalency of the transformation and the
Mohr's circle to prepare them for the Pressure Vessel lab.

Suppose that strain readings were taken off a strain rosette with three gages
labeled a, b, and c. Strains εx, εy, γxy can be found from the three gage
readings and three gage positionings.

where, i = a, b, and c.

Rule of mixtures
One quick way to estimate the material properties, i.e., the moduli in 1 and
2 direction of a composite is by using the rule of mixture. It assumes that the
modulus of a composite is the combination of the modulus of the fiber and
the matrix that are related by the volume fraction of the constituent
materials.

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Composite (laminated) beam

Not to be confused with beam made up of composite material, this
composite (laminated) beam in this context refers to a beam with layering
material having different Young's moduli. The different in moduli will result
in the beam having a shift in neutral axis under bending load. One way to
work a composite beam problem is by using an equivalent beam. The basic
idea is to make a beam out of one material but expand or contract the
substituted part laterally so that it has the same functionality as the original
beam.

For beam made up of two materials, M1 and M2 with moduli of elasticity

E1<E2, the expansion factor for replacing M2 with M1 is

The new beam is now made out of one material and can be solved using the
usual method. The first step is to determine the centroid of the cross
section.

The neutral axis of this beam goes through the centroid of its cross section.
All measurements and calculations must be done with respect to this neutral
axis.

The next step is to calculate the moment of inertia, I. Since the neutral axis
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is not at the geometric center a parallel axis theorem must be use to shift the
I's of each area to the neutral axis.

Normal stress equation can then be used to calculate the tensile and
compressive stress in that equivalent beam (as oppose to the stress in the
original beam). Since the expanded section is enlarged by a factor of n, the
area is also increased by the same factor. The stress in the original section is
then the calculated stress divide by a factor of n. For the unexpanded
section, the stress is as calculated.

The above outline also works when E1>E2. In this case the expanded
section is actually contracted. Think of it as an expansion by a factor of less
than one and continue.

Objective Lab Work

Lecture
Lab work Prelab
Data Reduction
Handout 1. Three strain readings were recorded from a tensile specimen with the
Miscellaneous corresponding position of the strain gages with respect to X axis.
They are:

Find εx, εy, γxy using the strain transformation equations.

Rewrite strain transformation equation in matrix form:

The three unknowns in the equation above can be solved in any

manner. The solution to a matrix equation

is

Hence,
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Some of the commands that could prove to be useful in MS Excel

are "minverse" and "mmult". "minverse" inverts a matrix and "mmult"
multiplies two matrices. To use these two commands, highlight an
area that the results will go then enter the formula:

=minverse(matrix1) follow by a [command]+[return]

or [crtl]+[return]
=mmult(matrix1,matrix2) follow by a [command]+
[return] or [crtl]+[return].

The degrees must be in radian in MS Excel. The formula for Π is

"pi()".
2. Young's modulus in bending is given by,

E = Mc/I ε

Where, M is the maximum bending moment, I is the moment of

inertia, c is the distance from the neutral axis to the outer fiber, and ε
is the strain. For the case of three-point bending beam as shown in
Figure 4, express the E in term of P, L, c, I, and ε.

Figure 4 Three-point bending beam.

Draw the shear and moment diagrams to determine the maximum

bending moment. Alternatively, summing the moment about an
arbitrary cut at a distance x from the end will give the bending
moment in term of x. Letting x goes to L/2 will give the expression
for the maximum bending moment.

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Substitute the moment into the equation above:

3. Derive an equation, in terms of P, L1, L2 , E, and I, for the

deflection, δL1, of the beam directly under either of the applied loads
as shown in Figure 5. Draw the shear and moment diagrams for the
beam shown below. What is the maximum bending moment in terms
of P,L1 , and/or L2 for this loading condition. (Assume the beam is
made from an isotropic and homogeneous material.) You may want
to solve the three-point bending case first.

Figure 5 Four-point bending beam

Beam equations.
Region (1) x < L1

Region (2) L1< x < (L1+L2)

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There four equations θ1, θ2 , δ1, and δ2 with four unknowns C1, C2,
C3, and C4, altogether. We need four boundary equations (BC) to
solve the four equations. They are:

BC 2:

BC 4:

BC 1: C3 = 0 hence,

BC 3:

4. What advantages or disadvantages does 4-point bending have over

3-point bending knowing our samples have strain gage rosettes
mounted near but not necessary at the center.
5. For the beam shown in Problem 2 solve for the maximum stress
using the beam cross-section shown below and knowing that h1 =
h2 = 0.125 in., b = 1.25 in., L = 10.0 in., and P = 1000 lb. E1 is
that of aluminum (10,000 ksi), E2 is that of steel (30,000 ksi).

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Objective Data Reduction

Lecture sss
Lab work
Data Reduction
Handout
Miscellaneous

Objective Handout
Lecture
Lab work The term "composite material" can be broadly defined as the resultant of
Data Reduction combining two or more materials, each of which has their own unique
Handout properties, to form one new material. In a way, we studied composite
Miscellaneous materials on a microscopic scale when we investigated multicomponent
structures in metals, ceramics, and polymers. However, when we speak of
engineering composite materials, we generally mean that two or more
different materials are assembled macroscopically in a mechanical way.
One example could be assembled by man, such as combining glass fibers
with epoxy. Another example could be due to nature, such as combining
cellulose fibers and lignin to form wood. The advantages of composite
materials are that they can be constructed to exhibit the best qualities from
their constituents that neither constituent possesses singularly.[1] In this
laboratory, we are mainly interested in composite materials that are
manmade.

Although the objective of this laboratory is to become more familiar with

high strength composites, there are other objectives that are an integral part
of this lab. Since the fibrous composite is generally not isotropic, a more
general or alternative material model must be used to describe the
composite. After identifying the "constants" needed to describe our
composite, we will perform various experiments to determine some of these
constants.

Composites are commonly classified as being anisotropic materials

(materials with 21 independent material constants). However, if the
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constituent materials are combined in certain configurations, composite
materials can be manufactured that behave in an orthotropic nature (nine
independent material properties) or even in a transversely isotropic nature
(five independent material constants). The samples we are going to test
have been manufactured so they behave in a transversely isotropic nature.
Before we can start the experiment, we need to gain an understanding of
some of the terminology used for these materials.

The samples used in this laboratory are constructed from a uniaxial

composite material. Figure 1 shows a schematic of a uniaxial composite. In
Figure 1, the horizontal lines represent fibers while the shaded region
represents the matrix material. Figure 2 shows a schematic of a typical
specimen used in this laboratory. Each specimen has a strain gage rosette
mounted at its center as shown in the figure. Gages A and C make angles of
-45° and +45°, respectively, with gage B and the X axis.

Figure 1 Schematic of uniaxial composite material.

Figure 2 Strain gages layout for the tensile specimen.

Figure 3 Stress and strain distribution for samples with and without equal
moduli in tension and compression.

Besides the fact that fibrous composite materials have different material
properties in the 1 and 2 directions, the material can also have different
material properties in tension than it has in compression. One of the
following tasks will investigate this phenomenon. In addition, since the
composite material has a different modulus in tension than it does in
compression, the "bending" modulus will also be different. This can be
reasoned by realizing that, in bending, part of the beam cross-section will
be in tension while the other part will be in compression. As a result, the
neutral axis will shift and will no longer be in the center. Figure 3 shows a
representation of the stress and strain distribution for a sample in bending
with and without equal moduli in tension and compression. The fact that the
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moduli can be different leads to several initial observations. The moment of
inertia changes due to the neutral axis shift. The correct moment of inertia
can be determined using the parallel axis theorem. In addition, the distance
from the neutral axis to the outside fibers is no longer equal to half the beam
thickness. The last problem of the pre-lab explores these observations.
ASTM D790, entitled "Standard Methods of Test for Flexural Properties
of Plastics, " outlines methods for testing samples in bending. We will use
this standard as a guideline for part of our experiment.

Prelab

1. Three strain readings were recorded from a tensile specimen with the
corresponding position of the strain gages with respect to X axis.
They are:

(1)

Find εx, εy,γxy using the strain transformation equations.

(2)

2. Young's modulus in bending is given by,

E = Mc/I ε (3)

Where, M is the maximum bending moment, I is the moment of

inertia, c is the distance from the neutral axis to the outer fiber, and ε
is the strain. For the case of three-point bending beam as shown in
Figure 4, express the E in term of P, L, c, I, and ε.

Figure 4 Three-point bending beam.

3. Derive an equation, in terms of P, L1, L2 , E, and I, for the

deflection, δL1, of the beam directly under either of the applied loads
as shown in Figure 5. Draw the shear and moment diagrams for the
beam shown below. What is the maximum bending moment in terms
of P, L1, and/or L2 for this loading condition. (Assume the beam is
made from an isotropic and homogeneous material.) You may want
to solve the three-point bending case first.

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Figure 5 Four-point bending beam

4. What advantages or disadvantages does 4-point bending have over

3-point bending knowing our samples have strain gage rosettes
mounted near but not necessary at the center.
5. For the beam shown in Problem 2 solve for the maximum stress
using the beam cross-section shown below and knowing that h1 =
h2 = 0.125 in., b = 1.25 in., L = 10.0 in., and P = 1000 lb. E1 is
that of aluminum (10,000 ksi), E2 is that of steel (30,000 ksi).

Tasks

1. Load a composite specimen (fiber direction) in tension. Record the

strains from all the strain gages for 3-10 different applied loads.
Report these values in tabular form.
2. Calculate E1t and ν 12 from 3-D Hooke's law. Report these values in
tabular form. Remember to apply your statistics knowledge, i.e.,
mean, standard deviation, mode, median, etc.
3. Load a composite specimen (matrix direction) in 3-point bending
using the Instron load frame. Record the strain for 3-5 different
applied load.
4. Determine the elastic modulus in the matrix direction. We will refer to
this modulus as E2t . Assume that the neutral axis is at the center of
the cross-section.
5. Load another composite specimen (fiber direction) in 4-point
bending. Record the strain from the top and bottom gages for 10-15
different applied loads.
6. Determine a tension and compression moduli. E1t and E1c can be
calculated using Equation 4 and 5.[2] M is the maximum moment at
the current strain reading. εc and εt are the absolute value of strains in
compression and tension, respectively. w is the specimen width and
h is the specimen thickness.

(4)

(5)

Comment on any differences between the tension modulus, E1t, and

compression modulus, E1c, in the fiber direction. Why might they be
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different? Is the difference significant? How does this value of E1t
compare with the value calculated in Task 2? Explain the difference
in E2t and E1t .
7. Load the same composite specimen again. This time, record the load
deflection history on the strip chart. Using beam theory from the
prelab, calculate the bending (flexural) modulus, E1b , in the fiber
direction. Use Figure 3 to determine the moment of inertia. From
Figure 3:

(6)
(7)
(8)

Does your value of E1b seem reasonable? Explain your answer in

detail. It should be noted that you just determine E1t, E1c, and E1b
from a single bending test.
8. It has been suggested that the flexural modulus can also be
determined for a beam of unequal tensile and compressive moduli
from the following equation:[3]

(9)

This equation was derived assuming the neutral axis was at the center
of the cross-section when calculating the moment of inertia and the
maximum stresses. How does this result compare to E1b you
calculated previously? Will this equation be applicable if your E1t
and E1c values are very different?
9. It can be shown analytically that the following relationship has to be
true for a transversely isotropic material.[4]

(10)

Calculate the ν 21 using the tension moduli from Task 4 and 6. How
would you experimentally determine the value of ν 21 ?
10. The rule of mixtures if often employed as an analytical method of
determining the moduli of a uniaxial composite plate just from
knowing the properties and amounts of constituent materials used.[5]
Determine E1 and E2 using the rule of mixtures. Compare these
values to the experimentally determined values.

(11)
(12)

Values and definitions of Em, Ef, Vm, and Vf will be supplied in the

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laboratory. Will the rule of mixtures be able to predict the different in
the properties in tension and compression?
11. Summarize the material properties you determined in the result
section of your report.

References

1. Jones, R.M., Mechanics of Composite Materials, Hemisphere

Publishing Corporation, New York, 1975, p.1.
2. Yu, M., Tarnopolskii, T. Kincis, Handbook of Composites, vol.3,
Institute of Polymer Mechanics, Vatvian S.S.R., p. 266.
3. Carlsson ,L.A., Pipes, R.B., Experimental Characterization of
Advanced Composite Materials, Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey,
1987, pp. 91-93.
4. Jones, R.M., Mechanics of Composite Materials, Hemisphere
Publishing Corporation, New York, 1975, p.38.
5. Jones, R.M., Mechanics of Composite Materials, Hemisphere
Publishing Corporation, New York, 1975, pp.90-92.

Objective Miscellaneous
Lecture
Lab work
Data Reduction
Handout
Miscellaneous

Last Modified
Sep 2005

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