K.S.R.

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, TIRUCHENGODE – 637 215

(AUTONOMOUS)

B.E. / B. Tech. DEGREE END SEMESTER EXAMINATION, MAY / JUNE- 2021

Eighth Semester / B.E. / Mechanical Engineering

18ME885 – Composite Materials

(Regulations 2018)

ANSWER KEY WITH SCHEME OF EVALUATION

PART A –– (10 x 2 = 20 Marks)

1.  Composites are usually classified by the type of material used for the matrix. The four
primary categories of composites are polymer matrix composites (PMCs), metal matrix
composites (MMCs), ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), and carbon matrix composites
(CAMCs) (2 Marks)

2.
 The matrix binds the fiber reinforcement, transfers loads between fibers, gives the composite
component its net shape and determines its surface quality.  (2 Marks)
3.
 Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) , also Fibre-reinforced plastic , is a composite material made
of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass, carbon, or aramid,
although other fibres such as paper or wood or asbestos have been sometimes used.
(2 Marks)
4.  Thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics are both polymers, but they behave differently
when exposed to heat. Thermoplastics can melt under heat after curing while thermo set
plastics retain their form and stay solid under heat once cured.
(2 Marks)
5.
 A general rule of mixtures is a weighted mean used to predict various properties of a composite
material . It provides a theoretical upper- and lower-bound on properties such as the elastic
modulus, mass density, ultimate tensile strength, thermal conductivity, and electrical
conductivity. (2 Marks)

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6.
The main limitations of stir casting are poor distribution with combination of the
reinforcement ceramic particles (agglomerations) in the metal matrix, porosities in
composites during fabrication, and wettability of ceramic particles with molten metal's
(1 Marks)
7.
 Strong interfacial bonding obviously results in brittle fracture and poor mechanical properties
of the composites. There are various suitable interfacial bonding states for the expectant
tensile, flexure, impact, and fatigue properties of the composites, respectively. (2 Marks)

8.  Alumina (aluminium oxide, Al2O3) ...

 Zirconia (zirconium oxide, ZrO2) ...
 Silicon nitride (Si3N4) and SiAlON (alumina substituted into silicon nitride) ...
 Aluminium nitride (AlN) ...
 Boron nitride (BN) ...
 Tungsten carbide (WC) ...
 Boron carbide (B4C) and diamond.
(2 Marks)
9. The benefits of carbon fibre
 Strength – Carbon materials are tough and strong. ...
 Weight – Despite its strength carbon fibre is actually very light. ...
 Stress resistance – Parts made from Carbon Fibre are less prone to wear and tear. ...
 Corrosion resistance – Carbon fibre is durable in corrosive environments too.
(2 Marks)
10 Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is a process in which the substrate is exposed to one or
more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce
the desired thin film deposit. (2 Marks)

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 PART B –– (5 x 16 = 80 Marks) / (5 x 12 = 60 Marks)

11. (a) Characteristics of glass fiber:

Glass fibre is a material made up of several fine fibres of glass. The product is one of the most
versatile industrial materials known today. It has comparable mechanical properties to other fibres
such as carbon fibre and polymers. Glass fibre is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer
products in order to form a very durable and lightweight material, known as fibreglass. 
 
Fibreglass offers some unique advantages over other materials due to its thickness, weight and
strength. With such a wide range of properties, the material can satisfy design and project
objectives in many industrial applications. 
(8 Marks)
Properties of glass fibre :
 High tensile strength. Glass has greater tensile strength than steel wire of the same
diameter, at a lower weight. 
 Dimensional stability. Glass fibre is not sensitive to variations in temperature and
hygrometry. It has a low coefficient of linear expansion.
 High heat resistance. Glass fabrics retain 50% of room temperature tensile strength at
370°C, 25% at 480°C, a softening point of 845°C and a melting point of 1,135°C.
 Good thermal conductivity. Glass fibres are great thermal insulators because of their high
ratio of surface area to weight. This property makes it highly useful in the building
industry. 
 Great fire resistance. Since glass fibre is a mineral material, it is naturally incombustible. It does
not propagate or support a flame. It does not emit smoke or toxic products when exposed to
heat. 
 Good chemical resistance. Glass fibre is highly resistant to the attack by most chemicals. 
 Outstanding electrical properties. Glass fibre has a high dielectric strength and low dielectric
constant. It is a great electrical insulator even at low thickness.
 Dielectric permeability. This property of glass fibre makes it suitable for electromagnetic
windows. 
 Compatibility with organic matrices. Glass fibre can vary in sizes and has the ability to
combine with many synthetic resins and certain mineral matrices like cement. 
 Great durability. Glass fibre is not prone to sunlight, fungi or bacteria. 
 Non-rotting. Glass fibre does not rot and remains unaffected by the action of rodents and
insects. 
 Highly economical. It is a cost-efficient choice compared to similar materials. 
(8 Marks)

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 (b)  The degree of cure (DOC), xx, is a numerical representation of how far the chemical curing
reaction (cross linking process) has advanced. It is considered a processing state variable
used to describe the current polymer material state based on its process cure history.
Knowledge of the degree of cure is significant for ensuring that the intended and maximum
mechanical properties of the polymer matrix are achieved. The higher the degree of cure,
the higher the mechanical properties for the thermo set matrix. Conversely, under curing
can lead to under-strength adhesion between fibre layers, or skins and cores, and potential
geometric distortions upon part removal from the tool.
 In the context of composite processing, the degree of cure is one of the key state variables
as it can describe the physical state of the thermo set as it transitions from a
flowing resin into a solid matrix material. The degree of cure value can provide insight as to
whether the polymer is still a flowing resin, has become a gelled semi-solid, or become a
physical solid with some insight into the potential mechanical strength of that solid.
(8 Marks)
An important change during cure is gelation, when the reaction has proceeded sufficiently so that
the resin has achieved a flexible but non-flowing three dimensional molecular structure. Gelation
is accompanied by a release of heat resulting in a temperature rise. Gelation marks the end of the
“working time” of the resin and fiber. Resin is no longer liquid and attempts to “work” it and the
fiber -- shape and smooth them -- are ineffective and may compromise the properties of the
composite. Thus, gel time is an important factor in the manufacture of all composites and gel
temperature is important for thick or large cross section composites. (8 Marks)

12. (a)  Reinforced plastics-Generally similar to laminates in a number of applications.

i FRP- Polymeric resin and reinforcement usually in fibre form along with other additives such as filler,
catalyst, initiator, lubricants etc.
 Both thermoplastics and thermo sets are used in FRP but thermo sets are most widely used.
(2Marks)

 Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are a type of composite plastics made of a matrix or binding agent
reinforced by a fiber material. The FRP process thus entails two steps: making the fibrous material
and bonding the material with a polymer plastic. (2 Marks)

Process Descriptions
A. Open Molding – Open molding is the simplest and most widely used process to produce FRP parts. It is
done in ambient shop conditions. The mold is generally fabricated from FRP. The cosmetic surface of the
part is fabricated next to the mold. The back of the mold is open. While most fabrication processes involve
application of the exterior coating after the main structure of the part has been built, open mold parts are
built from the exterior to the interior. The first step in open molding is to apply the gel coat (the exterior
coating of the part) to the mold. The remaining layers of the laminate design, which will include some but
not all of the following, back the gel coat :
1. Barrier Coat – this is applied behind the gel coat. A barrier coat improves part cosmetics, reduces
cracking and improves osmotic blister resistance in marine parts.
2. Skin Laminate – a relatively thin glass fiber reinforced laminate fabricated behind the gel coat. Skin
laminates improve cosmetics and osmotic blister resistance.
3. Print Blocker – a sprayable syntactic foam material used behind a skin coat to improve laminate
cosmetics.
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 4. Coring Materials – light weight materials used to build part thickness and stiffness without adding weight.
5. Bulk Laminate – the main portion of the laminate that provides most of the structural properties.

Glass fiber reinforcement used in skin and bulk laminates can be applied by hand layup or sprayup
techniques. Emissions from open mold processes are significant and are regulated by Federal NESHAP
standards and, in some cases, State and Local regulations.

(4 Marks)
12 (a)  The works in recent decades on hydrothermal properties of polymer composite materials were
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summarized, including experimental research and theoretical methods. The hot/wet environmental
conditions reduced composite properties mainly in two ways: properties of matrix vary with
temperature and moisture concentration, and the inner stress distributions may be altered by
hydrothermal state. The mechanical properties variation of composites with environmental
conditions can be obtained through experiments. And it's found that hydrothermal effects on matrix
are particularly severe, indicating that the type of resin should be selected according to operating
environment during the design procedure. Based on the above two ways of hydrothermal effects,
numerical models were built to analyze the effects of humidity and temperature on composites.
Many assumptions and simplifications were made in the models, which result in many limitations.
Therefore, a multi-physical and multi-scale numerical model should be established to study the
hygro/thermo/mechanical coupled effect. (8 Marks)

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(b) Filament Winding Method
Filament winding is an automated method for creating composite structures by winding filaments
under tension over a rotating mandrel (tool). The fibre placement is guided by a machine with
two or more axes of motion, as can be seen in the simple schematic diagram below. Filament
winding a used to manufacture a range of products such as pipes, pipe joints, drive shafts, masts,
pressure vessels, storage tanks etc. There are a number of different types of filament
winding machine that are best suited to manufacturing different type of components
(2 Marks)
Diagram :

(6 Marks)

The simplest winding machines have two axes of motion, the mandrel rotation and the carriage
travel (usually horizontal). Two-axis machines are best suited to the manufacture of pipes only. For
pressure vessels such as LPG or CNG containers (for example) it is normal to have a four-axis
winding machine. A four-axis machine additionally has a radial (cross-feed) axis perpendicular to
carriage travel and a rotating fibre payout head mounted to the cross-feed axis. The payout head
rotation can be used to stop the fibre band twisting and thus varying in width during winding.

Machines with more than four axes can be used for advanced applications, six-axis winding
machines usually have 3 linear and 3 rotation axes. Machines with more than 2 axes of motion have
computer/CNC control, however these days new 2-axis machines mostly have numeric control.
Computer controlled filament winding machines require the use of software to generate the
winding patterns and machine paths, such software can normally be provided by filament winding
machine manufacturers or by using independent products such as Cadfil. The Cadfil software can
be configured for any computer controlled filament winding machine and also for general purpose
6-axis robots with minor adaptions for filament winding.

Cadfil is supplied configured for the customer’s winding machine. Cadfil can be supplied with
multiple machine configurations, the user just selects which machine to use. Cadfil can be
configured for 2 to 6 axes and for all filament winding machines types and control systems.

(8 Marks)

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13. (a) Compared to monolithic metals, MMCs have:

Higher strength-to-density ratios

Higher stiffness-to-density ratios
Better fatigue resistance
Better elevated temperature properties
-- Higher strength
-- Lower creep rate
Lower coefficients of thermal expansion
Better wear resistance (5 Marks)

Like all composites, aluminum-matrix composites are not a single material but a family of
materials whose stiffness, strength, density, and thermal and electrical properties can be tailored.
The matrix alloy, the reinforcement material, the volume and shape of the reinforcement, the
location of the reinforcement, and the fabrication method can all be varied to achieve required
properties. Regardless of the variations, however, aluminum composites offer the advantage of low
cost over most other MMCs. In addition, they offer excellent thermal conductivity, high shear
strength, excellent abrasion resistance, high-temperature operation, nonflammability, minimal
attack by fuels and solvents, and the ability to be formed and treated on conventional equipment.
(5 Marks)

Reinforcements: MMC reinforcements can be divided into five major categories: continuous fibers,
discontinuous fibers, whiskers, particulates, and wires. With the exception of wires, which are
metals, reinforcements generally are ceramics.
Silicon carbide monofilaments are also made by a CVD process, using a tungsten or carbon core. A
Japanese multifilament yarn, designated as silicon carbide by its manufacturer, is also
commercially available. This material, however, made by pyrolysis of organometallic precursor
fibers, is far from pure silicon carbide and its properties differ significantly from those of
monofilament silicon carbide. (6 Marks)

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 (b) Main characteristics of Glass-Epoxy Composite
(i)  Low thermal conductivity
 Good high-temperature resistance
 Excellent dimensional stability
 Suitable for sealing applications
 Exceptional toughness
 Good mechanical resistance
 High dielectric strength
 Good wear resistance
 High compressive strength (6 Marks)

Glass fiber-reinforced epoxy is preferred over wood and aluminum in polevault

poles because of its high strain energy storage capacity. A good pole must

have a reasonably high stiffness (to keep it from flapping excessively during

running before jumping) and high elastic limit stress so that the strain energy of

the bent pole can be recovered to propel the athlete above the horizontal bar.

As the pole is bent to store the energy, it should not show any plastic deformation

and should not fracture. The elastic limit of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy

is much higher than that of either wood or high-strength aluminum alloys.

With glass fiber-reinforced epoxy poles, the stored energy is high enough to

clear 6 m or greater height in pole vaulting. Carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy is

not used, since it is prone to fracture at high bending strains.(6 Marks)

Glass fibers are relatively inexpensive, lightweight and have high tensile strength. Studies
have shown that the addition of glass fibers in concrete can control shrinkage cracking
improve the flexural and tensile strengths and also increase the post-peak ductility in
compression. (4 Marks)

14. (a)
Stir Casting Method studied the effects of controlled stirring during solidification on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminum alloys, in comparison to conventionally
gravity chill cast material. A stir casting device was specially designed to study of the alloys in
the mushy state. Effect of the process variables shear rate , shear time, and volume fraction solid
during shear on microstructure and both static and dynamic mechanical properties of the stir cast
alloy was studied. In all cases, improved mechanical properties and reduced porosity were
obtained in the stir cast condition in comparison with conventional casting and in comparison
with previous work on stir casting. Comparison with alloy commercially rheocast via
electromagnetic stirring, however, showed that the latter had superior mechanical properties. The
main factors that control the properties of MMCs fabricated using casting techniques include:
reinforcement distribution, wetting of reinforcement by matrix alloy porosity in the cast metal
matrix and chemical reaction between reinforcement material and the matrix alloy. researched on
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solving the problem of poor wettability between particulate SiC and molten Al (A359 alloy). He
found that increasing both, SiC content and T6 artificial treatment increased the mechanical
prperties such as hardness and tensile strength o f the matrix alloy. (8 Marks)

Stir casting process involves stirring of melt, in which the melt is stirred continuously which
exposes the melt surface to the atmosphere which tend to continuous oxidation of aluminum
melt. As a result of continuous oxidation, the wettability of the aluminum reduces and the
reinforcement particles remain unmixed. (8 Marks)

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 (b)
CP titanium powder was compacted and sintered in vacuum for two hours at 1200°C. Small
cylindrical samples were compacted at pressures varying from 350 to 600 MPa in order to
determine the compressibility of the powder. Following these tests, four larger stepped-
cylinder samples were compacted at pressures close to 400 MPa and sintered under similar
conditions. These samples had sintered densities varying between 3.82 and 4.41 g/cm3 .
They were used to evaluate the machinability of the sintered titanium using face turning
machining tests. The samples were machined dry, using uncoated carbide (WC-Co) cutting
tool. Cutting speeds between 60-150 m/min were evaluated while keeping the feed rate and
depth of cut constant at 0.15 mm/rev and 0.5 mm, respectively. The final machined surface
finish and the tool wear experienced during the face turning machining tests were
monitored in order to evaluate PM titanium’s machining performance. This study showed
that it is possible to use the press-and-sinter PM process with CP titanium powder, with a
particle size of less than 75 µm), to manufacture sintered titanium. However, particle shape
influences the compressibility of the powder and pressing parts of larger volume, such as
the machining test sample shape, is challenging when using such small particle size
powder. Processing conditions, such as compaction pressure, sintering temperature and
sintering time, influence the sintered density. (8 Marks)
Titanium is a low density material, which means that it is ideally meant for applications that
require lightweight components. One industry that makes use of the Titanium Socket
Head Cap Screws is the aerospace industry. Since the vehicle has to gain momentum at a
rapid pace, using lighter weighing Aerospace Titanium Fasteners aids it to achieve that.
The density of the material is lower than that of stainless steel alloys. (8 Marks)

15. (a)
 Ceramic matrix composites are a type of composite with ceramics as both the
reinforcement and the matrix material. The reinforcement provides its special properties
while the matrix material holds everything together. These composites were developed for
applications with demanding thermal and mechanical requirements, such as in aerospace
vehicles, nuclear industries, ground transportation, space structures and chemical industries.
(2 Marks)

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Ceramic matrix composites are made using ceramic fibres of 3 to 20 micrometres in thickness.
The small diameter allows flexibility of the fibre (usually manufactured as yarns) when further
textile processing is needed. CMC preform is made from the fibres by textile structuring of
continuous fibres through weaving, braiding and knitting or by cutting the yarns and forming short
fibre bundles.
Ceramic matrix composites reinforced with continuous fibres are commonly fabricated by
infiltration methods, in which a ceramic matrix is formed by a fluid infiltrating the fibrous
structure. The conversion of fluid into ceramics varies according to the type of fluid used and the
processes involved. Some infiltration techniques are as follows
Liquid silicon infiltration (LSI)
Polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP)
Ceramic slurry infiltration (CSI)
Chemical vapour infiltration (CVI)
Reactive melt infiltration (RMI) (6 Marks)

Vapor deposition techniques can be divided into CVD and physical vapor deposition (PVD). The
three main PVD techniques are evaporation, sputtering, and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).
PVD requires high vacuum conditions, often ultrahigh vacuum. These conditions generally allow
the very easy preparation of films, because material of complex compositions can be evaporated
from a bulk material and transported through the vacuum into a cold or heated substrate.
Ultrahigh vacuum conditions allow the usage of in situ monitoring such as reflection high-energy
electron diffraction (RHEED), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and analytical
instrumentation such as Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS) to get information about crystallinity, texture, and composition.
Because CVD generally operates at much higher pressures, only a few analytic instruments such as
ellipsometers and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) have been employed in situ in
CVD experiments.Although PVD allows production of high-quality films and fabrication of
extremely thin multilayer systems (20–30Å), it has several drawbacks compared to CVD, such as
low deposition rates, expensive equipment, and restrictions in the fabrication of some materials.
For example, many oxides such CrO2 are difficult to obtain because of a low partial pressure of
oxygen that is present in the deposition zone. Also, different chemical reaction pathways depending
on the reactant and reaction conditions can result in products that differ in stoichiometry or phase.
Conformality of step coverage can be defined as the thickness of the film at the base of the trench,
hole, or step-divided by the thickness at the top. The step coverage for PVD is much smaller than
for CVD. In CVD, up to 100% step coverage can be reached under optimized conditions. Due to
the nondirectional deposition in CVD, this technique can be used for multilevel metallization of the
sub-0.5 μm generation interconnects to produce void-free filling of high aspect ratio (depth-to-
width ratio) contact holes at low temperatures. These holes connect one level of metal with another
level of metal both above and below, Fig. 2. Nonconformed filling can cause shoulders at the top of
the contact holes, thus causing the formation of keyhole voids, which can close leaving an unfilled
void (Fig. 3). Compared to PVD, where high purity of films can be obtained, CVD can result in
contamination by C, O, CI, etc., due to complex chemical reactions of the precursors and the
reaction gases. Such incorporation can affect the physical properties of the deposition material and
need to be avoided.

(8 Marks)

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(b) This process can be used to produce non-straight tube forms such as carbon fibre handlebars, kayak
paddles and induction tubes. It can also be used for very complex tubular structures such as carbon
fibre bike frames and suspension wishbones. In fact, this video is intended to provide a more
detailed look at the laminating methodology and vacuum bagging principles used in our video
tutorial on how to make a carbon fibre bike frame.

In situations where only a straight tube form is required, the roll-wrapped tube manufacturing
method would often be more appropriate, or in commercial manufacture processes such as
pultrusion or pulwinding, can also be used. However, none of these processes can be used for
curved/bent tubes or complex tubular structures. (8 Marks)

FILAMENT WINDING

The filament winding process begins with a composite tow of either carbon fiber, fiberglass, or a
carbon fiber-fiberglass hybrid. The tow is loaded onto multiple spools at the back of the winding
machine. At the front is a long mandrel that acts as the form for the tubing.

To create the tubing, a carriage travels up and down the length of the machine while the mandrel
spins. The tows are applied to the mandrel in a spiral pattern like the stripe on a candy cane. The
angle of the spiral can be adjusted as well as how many spirals it takes to make a layer. Once
completely formed, the tube is cured before being separated from the mandrel.

Filament winding is more automated than roll wrapping, and therefore a more cost-effective way to
produce large volumes of composite tubing in a short amount of time. Customization is often easier
with roll wrapping since the fiber and resin can be mixed and matched at the winding machine
instead of during the prepregging process.

(8 Marks)

Prepared by Verified by Approved by

Module Coordinator H.O.D

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