COMPOSITE

ENGINEERING
MATERIALS
BY: F M JEPLETING
COURSE OUTLINE
 Introduction to Composite Materials
 Application of Composites Materials
 Macromechanical Analysis of a Lamina
 Micromechanical Analysis of a Lamina
 Failure Criteria for composites
 Fabrication Process
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITE
MATERIALS
1.1 INTRODUCTION
 What’s a composite materials?
 Is a material made by two or more constituents with different properties to form a
material with superior properties such as
 Strength
 Stiffness
 Durability
 Light weight
 One constituent is called the reinforcing phase (fibre, particles or flakes)
embedded in a matrix phase(generally continuous).
 Early applications of composites materials such as using bricks made of
clay(matrix) and straw(reinforcement) was used by the Israelites and
reinforcing mud walls in houses with bamboo shoots by Egyptians (1500
B.C)
 Other examples of composite materials include concrete reinforced with
steel and epoxy reinforced with graphite fibres, etc…
 Naturally found composites include
 Wood, where the lignin matrix is reinforced with cellulose fibre
 Bones, where bone-salt plates made of calcium and phosphate ions
reinforce soft collagen.
 Advance composites traditionally used in aerospace industries have
high performance reinforcements of a thin diameter in a matrix
material such as epoxy and aluminium.
 Using composites over metals has advantages such as
 Improved strength
 Improved stiffness
 Improved fatigue resistance
 Corrosion resistance
 Good thermal conductivity
 Impact resistance
 Light weight hence saves fuel which in turn increases performance
 Using composites materials also ahs limitations such as
 High cost of fabrication of composite material
  Mechanical characterization of a composite structure is more complex than that of
a metal structure.
 Repair of composites is not a simple process compared to that for metals.
Sometimes critical flaws and cracks in composite structures may go undetected.
 Composites do not have a high combination of strength and fracture toughness*
compared to metals
 Fibre reinforcements have a thin diameter for the following reason:
 For higher ductility and toughness, and better transfer of loads from the matrix to
fibre, composites require larger surface area of the fibre–matrix interface.
 Fibres able to bend without breaking are required in manufacturing of composite
materials, especially for woven fabric composites. Ability to bend increases with a
decrease in the fibre diameter and is measured as flexibility.
 Due to inherent flaws in materials usually the actual strength of the material is
several magnitudes lower than the theoretical value. Fibres having smaller
diameters, reduces the chances of an inherent flaw in the material hence
increasing the strength of the material.
 There are factors in a fibre that contribute to the mechanical performance of
a composite such as;
 Length – Fibres can be long or short. Long fibres are easy orient and process
compared to short fibre. They have better impact resistance, low shrinkage,
improved surface finish and dimensional stability. However, short fibres provide
low cost, are easy to work with and have a fast cycle time fabrication procedures
as well as higher strength due to fewer flaws
  Orientation – Fibres oriented in one direction give very high stiffness and
strength in that direction. If fibres are oriented in more than one direction,
there will be high stiffness and strength in the direction of the fibre
orientation.
 Shape – most fibres are circular in shape because handling and
manufacturing them is easy. Hexagon and square shaped fibres are
possible, but their advantages of strength and high packing factors do not
outweigh the difficulty in handling and processing.
 Material - The material of the fibre directly influences the mechanical
performance of a composite. Fibres are generally expected to have high
elastic moduli and strengths. This expectation and cost have been key
factors in the graphite, aramids, and glass dominating the fibre market for
composites.
 Matrix plays a crucial role in the mechanical performance of
composites. The functions include
 Binding the fibres together
 Protecting fibres from the environment
 Shielding from damage due to handling
 Distributing the load to fibres.
 Although matrices generally have low mechanical properties
compared to fibre, it influences many mechanical properties of the
composite such as;
  Shear modulus and strength
 Compressive strength
 Interlaminar shear strength
 Thermal expansion coefficient
 Thermal resistance and,
 Fatigue strength
 Fibre-matrix interface is another factor that influence the mechanical
performance of a composite by determining how well the matrix
transfers the load to the fibres.
 Chemical bonding( formed between fibre surface and matrix),
mechanical bonding(the natural roughness or etching of the fibre
surface causing interlocking between matrix and fibre), and reaction
bonding(occurs when atom or molecules of the fibre and matrix
diffuse into each other at the interface) may form the interface.
1.2 CLASSIFICATION
 Composites are classified by ;
 The geometry of the reinforcement (particulate, flake and fibres)
 The type of matrix (polymer, metal, ceramic and carbon)
 Particulate composites – consists of particles immersed in matrices
such as alloys and ceramics.

Particulate
composite
 Usually isotropic because of the random addition of the particles. They
have advantages such as improved strength, increased operating
tempetatue, oxidation restance.
 Typical examples include use of aluminum particles in rubber; silicon
carbide particles in aluminum; and gravel, sand, and cement to make
concrete.
 Flake composites – consist of flat reinforcement of matrices

Flake
composite
  Typical flake materials are glass, mica, aluminium, and silver.
 Flake composites provide advantages such as high out-of-plane flexural
modulus, higher strength, and low cost. However, flakes cannot be
oriented easily and only a limited number of materials are available for
use.
 Fibre composites – consists of matrices reinforced by
short(discontinuous) or long (continuous) fibre.

Fibre
composites

 Typical examples include carbon(high modulus/strength), glass (hard),

boron(high modulus/strength), silicon(high temperature resistant) and
aramids/Kevlar (very light)
 Example of matrices are resins such as epoxy, metals (aluminium) and
ceramics (calcium-alumino silicate)
 Nano-composites - consist of materials that are of the scale of
nanometers (10–9 m). At this scale, the properties of materials are
different from those of the bulk material. By having materials at the
nanometer scale, most of the properties of the resulting composite
material are better than the ones at the microscale.
1.3 ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITES MATERIALS
 Composite materials offers significant improvement in specific strength
and stiffness over conventional metal alloys.
 In aerospace industry composite offer the following advantages
 Light weight – hence saves weight leading to fuel saving, increase in payload
or increase in range which improves performance
 Good fatigue resistance – leads to enhanced life which involves saving the
long-term cost of the product
 Good corrosion resistance – meaning fewer requirements to inspection
resulting in saving maintenance cost
 Other remarkable properties of composite materials includes
 Composite materials do not yield (their elastic limits correspond to the rapture
limit)
 Composite materials are very fatigue resistant
 Do not corrode, except in the case of contact (aluminium with carbon fibres) in
which case galvanic phenomenon creates rapid corrosion
 They are not sensitive to the common chemicals used in engines, grease oils,
hydraulic liquids, paints, and solvents, however paint thinners attack the epoxy
resins
  They have excellent fie resistance as compared with the light alloys with
identical thickness. However, the smoke emitted from combustion of certain
matrices can be toxic
 However, composite materials have limitations such as;
 Composite material is able to absorb water (upto 6% by mass) and heat
 They have medium to low level impact resistance(inferior to that of metallic
materials)
 High cost of production
1.4 APPLICATIONS OF COMPOSITES MATERIALS
 In Air Transport – Due to weight saving and high specific strength its
used in;
 aircraft body parts and components e.g Ailerons, vertical stabilizers
  Helicopter blades and propellers
 Aircraft brake discs
 Transmission shafts
 Railway and Road transport
 Wagon doors, interior panels, front of power units and ventilation housings
 Body components and Complete body
 Wheels, shields, radiator grills, and Transmission shafts
 Suspension springs
 Chassis
 Space Transport – due to high specific modulus and strength and dimensional
stability during large changes in temperature in space
 High gain antenna
 Rocket boosters, reservoirs, nozzles
 Shield for atmosphere reentrance
 Medical devices – due to light weight, high stiffness and transparency to
radiation
 Medical equipment such as x-ray tables
 Dental implants
 Prosthetics
 General mechanical applications
 Gears and bearings
 Housing and casings
 Fly wheels
 Robot arms
 Sports and Recreation
 Protective gears such as helmets
 Tennis and squash rackets
 Fishing poles
 Skis
 Bicycle frames
 Electrical and Electronics
 Insulation for electrical construction
 Supports for circuit breakers
 Supports for printed circuits
 Armors, boxes, covers
 Antennas, radomes