Composite material

A composite material is a structural material that consists of two or more combined constituents which are
combined at macroscopic level and are not soluble in each other.
It should be understood that the aforesaid composite material is not the by-product of any chemical reaction
between two or more of its constituents.
One of its constituents is called the reinforcing phase and the other one, in which the reinforcing phase
material is embedded, is called the matrix. The reinforcing phase material may be in the form of fibers,
particles, or flakes (e.g. Glass fibers). The matrix phase materials are generally continuous (e.g. Epoxy resin).
The matrix phase is light but weak. The reinforcing phase is strong and hard and may not be light in weight.
For example, in concrete reinforced with steel the matrix phase is concrete and the reinforcing phase is steel.
In graphite/epoxy composites the graphite fibers are the reinforcing phase and the epoxy resin is the matrix
phase.
A material shall be considered as a composite material if it satisfies the following conditions:
 It is manufactured i.e., excluding naturally available composites.
 It consists of two or more physically and/or chemically distinct, suitably arranged or distributed phases
with an interface separating them.
 It has characteristics that are not the replica of any of the components taken individually.
 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.
 The content of the constituents is generally more than 10% (by volume).
 In general, property of one constituent is much greater ( ≥ 5׿ than the corresponding property of the
other constituent.
What can be achieved by forming a composite material?
The following properties can be improved by forming a composite material:
 Strength (Stress at which a material fails)
 Stiffness (Resistance of a material to deformation)
 Wear & Corrosion resistance
 Fatigue life ( long life due to repeated load)
 Thermal conductivity & Acoustical insulation
 Attractiveness and Weight reduction
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

Reinforcement
What are the types of reinforcements?
The reinforcements in a composite material come in various forms. These are
 Fibre  Flake
 Particulate  Whiskers
Fibre:
Fibre is an individual filament of the material. A filament with length to diameter ratio above 1000 is called a
fibre. The fibrous form of the reinforcement is widely used. The fibres can be in the following two forms:
Continuous fibres: If the fibres used in a composite are very long and unbroken or cut then it forms a
continuous fibre composite. A composite, thus formed using continuous fibre is called as fibrous composite.
The fibrous composite is the most widely used form of composite.
Short/chopped fibres: The fibres are chopped into small pieces when used in fabricating a composite. A
composite with short fibres as reinforcements is called as short fibre composite.
In the fibre reinforced composites, the fibre is the major load carrying constituent.
Classification of fibre composite materials

What are the types of fibres?

The fibres that are used in the fabrication of a composite can be divided into two broad categories as follows:
 Natural fibres  Advanced fibres
Natural fibres: The natural fibres are divided into following three sub categories.
 Animal fibers: silk, wool, spider silk, sinew, camel hair, etc.
 Plant/vegetable fibers: cotton (seed), jute (stem), hemp (stem), sisal (leaf), ramie, bamboo, maze,
sugarcane, banana, kapok, coir, abaca, kenaf, flax, raffia palm, etc.
 Mineral fibers: asbestos, basalt, mineral wool, glass wool.
Advanced fibers: An advanced fibre is defined as a fibre which has a high specific stiffness (that is, ratio of
Young’s modulus to the density of the material E/p) and a high specific strength (that is the ratio of ultimate
strength to the density of the materialσ / p). The fibres made from following materials are the advanced fibres.
 Carbon and/or Graphite  Alumina  Silicon carbide
 Glass fibers  Aramid  Sapphire
Particulate:
The reinforcement is in the form of particles which are of the order of a few microns in diameter. The
particles are generally added to increase the modulus and decrease the ductility of the matrix materials. In
this case, the load is shared by both particles and matrix materials. However, the load shared by the particles
is much larger than the matrix material. For example, in an automobile application carbon black (as a
particulate reinforcement) is added in rubber (as matrix material). The composite with reinforcement in
particle form is called a particulate composite.
There are two types of particulate composite on basis of orientation
 Random orientation  Preferred orientation
Flake:
Flake is a small, flat, thin piece or layer (or a chip) that is broken from a larger piece. Since these are two
dimensional in geometry, they impart almost equal strength in all directions of their planes. Thus, these are
very effective reinforcement components. The flakes can be packed more densely when they are laid parallel,
even denser than unidirectional fibres and spheres. For example, aluminum flakes are used in paints. They
align themselves parallel to the surface of the coating which imparts the good properties.
Whiskers:
These are nearly perfect single crystal fibres. These are short, discontinuous and polygonal in cross-section.

Why are reinforcement made in thin fibre form?

There are various reasons because of which the reinforcement is made in thin fibre form. These reasons are
given below.
1. An important experimental study by Leonardo da Vinci on the tensile strength of iron wires of various
lengths (see references in [2, 3]) is well known to us. In this study it was revealed that the wires of same
diameter with shorter length showed higher tensile strength than those with longer lengths. The reason
for this is the fact that the number of flaws in a shorter length of wire is small as compared longer length.
Further, it is well known that the strength of a bulk material is very less than the strength of the same
material in wire form.
2. The quality of load transfer between fibre and matrix depends upon the surface area between fibre and
matrix. If the surface area between fibre and matrix is more, better is the load transfer. It can be shown
that for given volume of fibres in a composite, the surface area between fibre and matrix increases if the
fibre diameter decreases.

What are the functions of a reinforcing agent?

The functions of a reinforcing agent are:
 These are the main load carrying constituents.
 The reinforcing materials, in general, have significantly higher desired properties. Hence, they
contribute the desired properties to the composite.
 It transfers the strength and stiffness to the matrix material.
What are the functions of a matrix material?
The matrix performs various functions. These functions are listed below:
 The matrix material holds the fibres together.
 The matrix plays an important role to keep the fibres at desired positions. The desired distribution of
the fibres is very important from micromechanical point of view.
 The matrix keeps the fibres separate from each other so that the mechanical abrasion between them
does not occur.
 It transfers the load uniformly between fibers. Further, in case a fibre is broken or fibre is
discontinuous, then it helps to redistribute the load in the vicinity of the break site.
 It provides protection to fibers from environmental effects.
 It provides better finish to the final product.
 The matrix material enhances some of the properties of the resulting material and structural
component (that fibre alone is not able to impart). For example, such properties are: transverse
strength of a lamina, impact resistance

Matrix
What is the matrix materials used in composites?
The matrix materials used in composites can be broadly categorized as: Polymers, Metals, Ceramics and
Carbon and Graphite.
 The polymeric matrix materials are further divided into:
 Thermoplastic – which soften upon heating and can be reshaped with heat and pressure
 Thermoset – which become cross linked during fabrication and does not soften upon reheating
 The metal matrix materials are: Aluminum, Copper and Titanium.
 The ceramic materials are: Carbon, Silicon carbide, Silicon nitride.
The classification of matrix materials is shown in Figure 1.11.

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What are the thermoplastic matrix materials? What are their key features?
The following are the thermoplastic materials:
 Polypropylene  Polyurethane  Polyphenylene sulfide
 Polyvinyl chloride  poly-ether-ether ketone (PPS)
 Nylon (PEEK)  Polysulpone
The key features of the thermoplastic matrix materials are:
 Higher toughness  Low cost processing
 High volume  The use temperature range is upto 225
What are the thermoset matrix materials? What are their key features?
The thermoset matrix materials are:
 Polyesters  Epoxies  Polyimides
The key features of these materials are given for individual material in the following.
Polyesters
 Used extensively with glass fibers  Temperature range upto 100
 Inexpensive  Resistant to environmental exposures
 Light weight
Epoxy
 Expensive  Lower shrinkage on curing
 Better moisture resistance  Use temperature is about 175
Polyimide
 Higher use temperature about 300  Difficult to fabricate
What are the problems with the use of polymer matrix materials?
 Limited temperature range.
 Susceptibility to environmental degradation due to moisture, radiation, atomic oxygen (in space)
 Low transverse strength.
 High residual stress due to large mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between fiber and matrix.
 Polymer matrix cannot be used near or above the glass transition temperature.

Thermoplastics Thermosets
Soften upon heat and pressure Decompose upon heating
Hence, can be repaired Difficult to repair
High strains are required for failure Low strains are required for failure
Can be re-processed Cannot be re-processed
Indefinite shelf life Limited shelf life
Short curing cycles Long curing cycles
Non tacky and easy to handle Tacky and therefore, difficult to handle
Excellent resistance to solvents Fair resistance to solvents
Higher processing temperature is required. Hence, Lower processing temperature is required
viscosities make the processing difficult

What are the common metals used as matrix materials? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
The common metals used as matrix materials are aluminum, titanium and copper.
Advantages:
 Higher transfer strength,
 High toughness (in contrast with brittle behavior of polymers and ceramics)
 The absence of moisture and
 High thermal conductivity (copper and aluminum).
Dis-advantages:
 Heavier
 More susceptible to interface degradation at the fiber/matrix interface and
 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 300ºC while the titanium matrix composites can
be used above 800 .
What are the ceramic matrix materials? What are their advantages and disadvantages?
The carbon, silicon carbide and silicon nitride are ceramics and used as matrix materials.
Ceramic: The advantages of the ceramic matrix materials are:
 The ceramic composites have very high temperature range of above 2000 .
 High elastic modulus
 Low density
 The disadvantages of the ceramic matrix materials are:
 The ceramics are very brittle in nature.
 Hence, they are susceptible to flows.
Carbon: The advantages of the carbon matrix materials are:
 High temperature at 2200 .
 Carbon/carbon bond is stronger at elevated temperature than room temperature.
The disadvantages of the carbon matrix materials are:
 The fabrication is expensive.
 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 carbon-carbon composites can resist the
temperatures upto 3000 .
The advantages of these composites are:
 Very strong and light as compared to graphite fibre alone.
 Low density.
 Excellent tensile and compressive strength.
 Low thermal conductivity.
 High fatigue resistance.
 High coefficient of friction.
The disadvantages include:
 Susceptible to oxidation at elevated temperatures.
 High material and production cost.
 Low shear strength.
It should be noted that for the structural applications the maximum use temperature is a critical parameter.
This maximum temperature depends upon the maximum use temperature of the matrix materials.
Range of use temperature for matrix materials in composites
Polymers: 25-250 c Metals: 250-800 c Ceramics: 800-2000 c

Note: 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.

Two main kinds of polymers are thermosets and thermoplastics

• Thermosets have qualities such as a well-bonded three dimensional molecular structure after curing. They
decompose instead of melting on hardening.
• Thermoplastics have one or two dimensional molecular structure and they tend to at an elevated
temperature and show exaggerated melting point. Another advantage is that the process of softening at
elevated temperatures can reversed to regain its properties during cooling.
Desired properties of matrix
• Reduced moisture absorption.
• Low shrinkage.
• Low coefficient of thermal expansion.
• Strength at elevated temperature (depending on application).
• Low temperature capability (depending on application).
• Excellent chemical resistance (depending on application).

Matrix phase
It is a continuous phase or the primary phase. It holds the dispersed phase and shares a load with it. It is made
up of metals, ceramics or polymers depending on the tuple of composite in investigation.
Dispersed (reinforcing) phase
It is the second phase (or phases) which is imbedded in the matrix in a continuous/ discontinuous form.
Dispersed phase is usually stronger than the matrix, therefore it is sometimes called reinforcing phase in case
of structural composites. This reinforcement is a strong, stiff (functional) integral component which is
incorporated into matrix to achieve desired properties or functionalities, basically it means desired property
enhancement. It can be fiber or particles of any shape and size including nanoparticles as well.
Interface
This is the zone across which the matrix phase and reinforcing phases interact (chemical, physical, mechanical,
electrical and others). This region in most composite materials has a finite thickness because of diffusion
and/or chemical reactions between the fiber and the matrix.
A multiphase material formed from a combination of materials which differ in composition or form, remain
bonded together, and retain their identities and properties.
Composites maintain an interface between components and act in concert to provide improved specific or
synergistic characteristics not obtainable by any of the original components acting alone. Composites include:
(1) fibrous (composed of fibers, and usually in a matrix), (2) laminar (layers of materials), (3) particulate
(composed of particles or flakes, usually in a matrix), and (4) hybrid (combinations of any of the above)

Many composite materials are composed of just two phases; one is termed the matrix, which is continuous
and surrounds the other phase, often called the dispersed phase. The properties of composites are a function
of the properties of the constituent phases, their relative amounts, and the geometry of the dispersed phase.
“Dispersed phase geometry” in this context means the shape of the particles and the particle size,
distribution, and orientation; these characteristics are represented in Figure 16.1.

Metals are very useful matrix materials. y They offer following key
advantages.
 High strength
 High modulus
 High toughness
 High impact strength
 Relative immunity to temperature changes
 Immunity to a large range of environmental variables
• However, metals are not very popular matrix materials because:
 They can only be processed at high temperature, as their melting points are high.
 They have high density.
 They have a propensity to react with several types of fibers.
 Metals are susceptible to corrosion.

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

Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites:

As is mentioned earlier, the characteristics of the composite materials depend on the properties of both
reinforcing phase as well as matrix phase. Therefore it is important to know the factors of the constituents of
composite materials, which contribute to the performance of the composite materials.
 Factors that control the properties of fibers
 Matrix factors
 Fiber-matrix interface
Factors that control the properties of fibers
(a) Length: The fibers can be long or short. Long, continuous fibers are easy to orient and process, but short
fibers cannot be controlled fully for proper orientation. Long fibers provide many benefits over short fibers.
These include high strength, impact resistance, low shrinkage, improved surface finish, and dimensional
stability. However, short fibers provide low cost, easy towork with, and have fast cycle time fabrication
procedures. Moreover using randomly oriented short fibers the isotropy behaviour may be achieved and uni
directional composites exhibit non-isotropic material properties.
(b) Orientation: Fibers oriented in one direction give very high stiffness and strength in that direction. If the
fibers are oriented in more than one direction, such as in a mat, there will be high stiffness and strength in the
directions of the fiber orientations. Hence the fibers are usually oriented in directions where high stiffness and
strength are required.
(c) Shape: Due to easiness in handling and manufacturing fibers, the most common shape of fibers is circular.
But fibers are available in the form of square and rectangle also.
(d) Material: The material of the fiber directly influences the mechanical performance of a composite. Fibers
are generally expected to have high elastic moduli and strength than the matrix materials. The fibers will also
good functional properties like, high thermal resistance, fatigue resistance and impact resistance.
Matrix factors
Matrix materials have low mechanical properties compared to those of fibers. Yet the matrix influences many
mechanical properties of the composite. These properties include
 Transverse modulus and strength  Thermal expansion coefficient
 Shear modulus and strength  Thermal resistance and
 Compressive strength  Fatigue strength
 Inter-laminar shear strength
Fiber-matrix interface
When the load is applied on a composite material, the load is directly carried by the matrix and it is
transferred to the fibers from the matrix through fiber–matrix interface. So, it is clear that the load-transfer
from the matrix to the fiber depends on the fiber-matrix interface. This interface may be formed by chemical,
mechanical, and reaction bonding. In most cases, more than one type of bonding occurs.
(a) Chemical bonding: It is formed between the fiber surface and the matrix. Some fibers bond naturally to
the matrix and others do not. Coupling agents are often added to form a chemical bond. Coupling agents are
compounds applied to fiber surfaces to improve the bond between the fiber and the matrix.
(b) Mechanical bonding: Every material has some natural roughness on its surface. In composite materials,
the roughness on the fiber surface causes interlocking between the fiber and the matrix leading to the
formation a mechanical bond.
(c) Reaction bonding: It happens when molecules of the fiber and the matrix diffuse into each other only at
the interface. Due to this inter-diffusion, a distinct interfacial layer, called the inter-phase, is created with
different properties from that of the fiber or the matrix. Even though this thin interfacial layer helps to form a
reaction bonding, it also develops microcracks in the fiber. These microcracks reduce the strength of the fiber
and consequently that of the composite.

What are the factors that affect the composite properties?

There are various factors upon which the properties of the composite depend. Following are the various
factors:
 Properties of the constituent materials. Apart from this, the properties of other phases present, like
additives, fillers and other reaction phases also affect the properties of the composite.
 Length of the fibre.
 Orientation of the fibres (with respect to the loading direction).
 Cross sectional shape of the fibre.
 Distribution and arrangement of the fibres in the matrix material.
 Proportions of the fibre and matrix material, that is, volume fractions of the constituent materials.