Lecture 9

Composite Material and

Processes
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Composite materials are polymers that have been
reinforced with organic or in-organic fiber materials (Fiber-
reinforced polymers, FRPs).

The principal advantage of these materials is the very high
strength-to-weight ratio, lightweight and strong, tailor
made product which makes them attractive in aircrafts,
spacecrafts, cars, boats, and sport equipment.
Starting materials
Fiber-reinforced polymers consist of two components, polymer matrix
and reinforced phase. They are produced separately before being
combined to make the composite part.
Thermoplastics, thermosets or elastomers are used for the polymer
matrix. Thermosetting polymers are the most common matrix materials,
especially epoxies.
Reinforcing components
Reinforcing components are fibers, cloth (fabrics), and mat of glass,
boron, carbon (graphite), polymers.
Fibers are used in some fabrication processes in a continuous form,
known as roving, which is a collection of untwisted continuous
threads. Each thread consists of 1000~30 000 single fibers.
Cloth is a fabric of woven yarns. Some special cloths can consists of
different fibers, for example carbon + glass fibers:
Mat is a material that consists of randomly oriented short fibers.

In some applications, raw materials are combined prior to the shaping
operations (the resulting material is known as a prepreg). The typical
thickness of the prepreg is 0.125 mm with 34% polymer resin.
Shaping processes
Open mold process
Open mold process
Open mold process
Close mold process
In these processes, molds consist of two sections that open and close
during each molding cycle. In compression molding processes, starting
materials are placed in the lower mold section, and the mold is closed
under pressure. Next, the mold is heated to cure the polymer matrix.
After curing, the mold is opened and the part is removed. Different
compression molding processes were developed for different starting
materials.
Filament winding
In this process, resin-impregnated fibers are wrapped around
a rotating mandrel that has the internal shape of the desired
Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) part
Filament Winding
Filament Winding
Pultrusion
(a) Schematic illustration of the pultrusion process. (b) Examples of parts made by
pultrusion.
The process is similar to extrusion, but it involves pulling of the
workpiece. Pultrusion process is used to produce simple shapes of
uniform cross section, such as round, rectangular, tubular, and structural
products. The bundles of fibers are drawn through a bath of polymer
resin and then gathered to produce a desired cross-sectional product.
The material is then drawn through one or more heated dies for further
shaping and curing. After cooling, material is cut to length
(b)
The major components of fiberglass
ladders (used especially by electricians)
are made by this process. Unlike
aluminum ladders, they are available in
different colors but are heavier because of
the presence of glass fibers.