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6.1: Introduction to the Mechanics of Fibre-Reinforced Composites

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    In the search for stiff, light, durable and easily manufactured materials, there has been an ever-increasing emphasis on composites over the past 50 years. Although metals have excellent strength and toughness combinations they are quite dense and many corrode in use. Attention has then turned to ceramics and polymers, which are lighter and more corrosion-resistant, but often lack toughness.

    Generally, a composite is a combination of two materials that exhibit desired properties of both constituents, such as compressive strength of the matrix and tensile strength of the fibres. Usually, they consist of ceramic or polymer fibres embedded in a matrix, usually a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy or polyester, but can also be thermoplastics or ceramics or even metals. The fibres are strong due to the removal of flaws in the case of ceramics and molecular alignment for polymers. The three main types of fibre used are:

    • Glass
    • Carbon
    • Aramid (aromatic polyamides, such as Kevlar ).

    In some types of composite, the fibres are oriented randomly within a plane, while in others the material is made up of a stack of differently-oriented "plies" to form a laminate, each ply containing an aligned set of parallel fibres.

    The choices of composition and of the materials used as matrix and fibre are dependent on the required properties. This can be deduced by deriving a merit index for the performance required followed by the use of Ashby property maps.

    As is often the case with science, it is nature that hints at the good mechanical properties of composites, for example wood and bones. For thousands of years we have been using composites, whether it be in brick walls or concrete, and now, composites are widely used in automotive, aerospace, marine and sports applications. Therefore an understanding of how composite materials behave is crucial to any technological advances.

    This page titled 6.1: Introduction to the Mechanics of Fibre-Reinforced Composites is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.