Course Code: AEN 415 + AEN 2012

Credits: 4
L T P: 3-1-0

COMPOSITE MATERIALS

by

Prof. Abha Gupta

Department of Aerospace Engineering, Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University)

Chandigarh, India
1
Outline

1 Course Outline

2 Introduction to Composite Materials

Brief on Composite Materials
Limitations of Composites over metals
Why are reinforcement made in thin bre form?
What are the roles of the constituents of composite material
Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites
Important Terminology
Composite material classication

3 Fibers
Types of Fibers
Glass Fibers
Boron Fibers
Carbon Fibers
Aramid Fibers
Extended Chain Polyethylene Fibers
Ceramic Fibers

4 Matrix

2
LECTURE - 1

3
Course Outline

Table 1. Course Outline.

S No. Lecture wise breakup
1 INTRODUCTION - Denition, Characteristics, Classication, comparison with
metallic materials, Particulate Composites, Fiber-reinforced composites, Applications of
composites in Aerospace Industry.
2 FIBERS - Glass bers, Carbon & Graphite bers, Aramid bers, Boron bers and
other bers. Properties and applications of various types of bers. Fiber nishing,
Weave pattern of bers.
3 MATRIX MATERIALS - Denition, Functions of a matrix, Thermosetting,
thermoplastic, Carbon, Metal and Ceramic matrix materials. Curing of resins.
Prepregs, characteristics, handing and storing of prepregs.
4 SANDWICH AND LAMINATE COMPOSITES - Sandwich construction, Face
and Core material, Honeycomb structures and their properties, Honeycomb
manufacturing, Fabrication of sandwich structures, Laminate lay-up, importance of ply
orientation, lay-up code, Joining of laminate structures, Tooling required.
5 MANUFACTURING PROCESSES - Open mold processes, Closed mold processes,
Continuous processes. Their merits and demerits. Fabrication of thermosetting resin
matrix composites  Hand lay-up techniques, Bag molding processes, Resin transfer
molding, Filament winding, Pultrusion, preformed molding compounds. Fabrication of
thermoplastic resin matrix composites short ber composites), Fabrication of metal
matrix composites, Fabrication of ceramic matrix composites.
6 REPAIR OF COMPOSITES - Defects in composites, Non-destructive inspection
techniques, Damage assessment, evaluation and classication, Repair of composites.
7 ADVANCED COMPOSITES Introduction to Carbon Nanotube (CNT) and
Graphene, Graphenated Carbon Nanotubes (g-CNT), Categories of CNT based on
structures, Properties, characterization, fabrication and applications of these materials.

4
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Brief on Composite Materials

Brief on Composite Materials

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. OR
Composites consist of one or more phases (reinforcement) embedded in a continuous phase (matrix) with
substantial composition; having chemically distinct and insoluble nature with a signicant dierence in their
mechanical properties.

Please Note: Composite material is not the by-product of any chemical reaction between two or more of its
constituents.

reinforcing phase and the other one, in which the reinforcing phase
One of its constituents is called the
material is embedded, is called the matrix. The reinforcing phase material may be in the form of bers,
particles, or akes (e.g. Glass bers). 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.

Historical examples of composites are abundant in the literature.

Like: The use of reinforcing mud walls in houses with bamboo shoots, glued laminated wood by Egyptians (1500
B.C), and laminated metals in forging swords ( A.D. 1800). Other example - Concrete + Steel, glass bers
reinforced resins.

5
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Brief on Composite Materials

Brief on Composite Materials (cont.)

A material shall be considered as a composite material if it satises 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 composite material, one such type of advanced structural material, is commonly used in aerospace,
mechanical, marine and other elds of modern technology.

Advanced composites are composite materials that are traditionally used in the aerospace industries. These
composites have high performance reinforcements of a thin diameter in a matrix material such as epoxy and
aluminum. Examples are graphite/epoxy, Kevlar/epoxy, and boron/ aluminum composites.

These materials have now found applications in commercial industries as well.

Combining two or more materials together to make a composite is more work than just using traditional
monolithic metals such as steel and aluminum.

6
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Brief on Composite Materials

Brief on Composite Materials (cont.)

What are the advantages of using composites over metals?

Monolithic metals and their alloys cannot always meet the demands of today's advanced technologies. Only by
combining several materials can one meet the performance requirements.

For example, trusses and benches used in satellites need to be dimensionally stable in space during temperature changes
between 256◦ F (160◦ C) and 200◦ F (93.3◦ C). Limitations on coecient of thermal expansion (whereas, coecient of
thermal expansion is the change in length per unit length of a material when heated through a unit temperature.)
cannot meet these requirements; this leaves composites, such as graphite/epoxy, as the only materials to satisfy them.

Composite materials are very attractive due to their highly favorable material characteristic and the ability to
tailor through optimization of ply numbers and ber orientations.
Composites oer several other advantages over conventional materials.

7
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Brief on Composite Materials

Brief on Composite Materials (cont.)

In other words- What can be achieved by forming a composite material:

The list of the desired properties, depending upon the requirement of the application, is given below:

Strength (stress at which a material fails)

Stiness (resistance of a material to deformation)
Toughness (toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing.)
High Wear
Corrosion resistance (corrosion resistance is the resistance to corrosion, such as pitting, erosion, galvanic, etc.)
High chemical resistance
High environmental degradation resistance
Fatigue life ( long life due to repeated load) or (fatigue resistance is the resistance to the lowering of mechanical
properties such as strength and stiness due to cyclic loading, such as due to take-o and landing of a plane, vibrating
a plate, etc.)
Impact resistance (impact resistance is the resistance to damage and to reduction in residual strength to impact loads,
such as a bird hitting an airplane or a hammer falling on a car body)
Thermal insulation or conductivity (thermal conductivity is the rate of heat ow across a unit area of a material in a
unit time, when the temperature gradient is unity in the direction perpendicular to the area)
Electrical insulation or conductivity
Acoustic insulation
Attractiveness and Weight reduction and many more.

It should be noted that the most important characteristics of composite materials is that their
properties are tailorable, that is, one can design the required properties.

8
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Brief on Composite Materials

How is the mechanical advantage of composite measured?

To measure the mechanical advantage, the (E /ρ) ratio is calculated and is called the specic modulus ( ratio
between the Young's modulus (E ) and the density (ρ) of the material).

The specic strength is dened as the ratio between the strength (σult ) and the density of the material (ρ),
that is,
E
Specific Modulus =
ρ
σult
Specific Strength =
ρ
The two ratios are high in composite materials. For example, the strength of a graphite/epoxy unidirectional
composite could be the same as steel, but the specic strength is three times that of steel.

What does this mean to a designer?

Take the simple case of a rod designed to take a xed axial load. The rod cross section of graphite/epoxy
would be same as that of the steel, but the mass of graphite/epoxy rod would be one third of the steel rod.

Are specic modulus and specic strength the only mechanical parameters used for measuring
the relative advantage of composites over metals?
No, it depends on the application.

9
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Limitations of Composites over metals

Yes, composites have distinct advantages over metals. Are there any drawbacks or
limitations in using them?

Yes, drawbacks and limitations in use of composites include:

High cost of fabrication of composites is a critical issue. For example, a part made of graphite/epoxy composite
may cost up to 10 to 15 times the material costs.

Mechanical characterization of a composite structure is more complex than that of a metal structure. Unlike
metals, composite materials are not isotropic, that is, their properties are not the same in all directions.
Therefore, they require more material parameters. For example, a single layer of a graphite/epoxy composite
requires nine stiness and strength constants for conducting mechanical analysis.

In the case of a monolithic material such as steel, one requires only four stiness and strength constants.
Such complexity makes structural analysis computationally and experimentally more complicated and intensive.

Repair of composites is not a simple process compared to that for metals.

Sometimes critical aws and cracks in composite structures may go undetected.

Composites do not have a high combination of strength and fracture toughness compared to metals. Metals
show an excellent combination of strength and fracture toughness compared to composites.

10
Introduction to Composite Materials
Limitations of Composites over metals

LECTURE - 2

11
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Why are reinforcement made in thin bre form?

Why are reinforcement made in thin bre form?

There are various reasons because of which the reinforcement is made in thin bre 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 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 aws 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. For eg- A steel plate may have strength of 100 ksi
(689 MPa), while a wire made from this steel plate can have strength of 600 ksi (4100 MPa).

[2] For higher ductility and toughness, and better transfer of loads from the matrix to ber, composites require
larger surface area of the bermatrix interface.

For the same volume fraction of bers in a composite, the area of the bermatrix interface is inversely
proportional to the diameter of the ber and is proved as follows.
Assume a lamina consisting of N bers of diameter D . The ber matrix interface area in this lamina is

AI = NπDL

If one replaces the bers of diameter, D , by bers of diameter, d , then the number of bers, n, to keep the ber
volume the same would be  2
D
n=N
d

12
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Why are reinforcement made in thin bre form?

Why are reinforcement made in thin bre form? (cont.)

Then, the bermatrix interface area in the resulting lamina would be

AII = nπdL

NπD 2 L NπD 2 L
AII = =4×
d 4×d

(Volume of fibers)
AII = 4
d
This implies that, for a xed ber volume in a given volume of composite, the area of the bermatrix interface
is inversely proportional to the diameter of the ber.

[3] Fibers 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 ber diameter and is measured as exibility.

Flexibility is dened as the inverse of bending stiness and is proportional to the inverse of the product of the
elastic modulus of the ber and the fourth power of its diameter.
Bending stiness is the resistance to bending moments. According to the Strength of Materials course, we know
when a beam is subjected to a pure bending moment, M, what is the bending stiness.
The bending stiness, then, is EI and the exibility is simply the inverse of EI. Because the second moment of area
of a cylindrical beam of diameter d is
πd 4
I =
64
then
1
Flexibility ∝
Ed 4
For a particular material, unlike strength, the Young's modulus does not change appreciably as a function of its
diameter. Therefore, the exibility for a particular material is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the
diameter.
13
Introduction to Composite Materials

What are the roles of the constituents of composite material

What are the roles of the constituents of composite material

What are the constituents in a typical composite?

In a composite, typically, there are two constituents.
One of the constituent acts as a reinforcement and other acts as a matrix (Sometimes, the constituents are also
referred as phases.).

1 Role of Reinforcements: Reinforcements give high strength, stiness and other improved mechanical properties
to the composites. Also their contribution to other properties such as the co-ecient of thermal expansion,
conductivity etc is remarkable.

2 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 bers in place to transfer stresses
binding the bers together
to the bers to protect the reinforcement from the environment, such as chemicals & moisture
to protect the surface of the bers from mechanical degradation
to act as shielding from damage due to handling
distribution of load to bers

14
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites

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 bers

1 Length: The bers can be long or short. Long, continuous bers are easy to orient and process, but short bers
cannot be controlled fully for proper orientation. Long bers provide many benets over short bers. These
include high strength, impact resistance, low shrinkage, improved surface nish, and dimensional stability.
However, short bers provide low cost, easy to work with, and have fast cycle time fabrication procedures.
Moreover using randomly oriented short bers the isotropy behaviour may be achieved and uni directional
composites exhibit non-isotropic material properties.

2 Orientation: Fibers oriented in one direction give very high stiness and strength in that direction. If the bers
are oriented in more than one direction, such as in a mat, there will be high stiness and strength in the
directions of the ber orientations. Hence the bers are usually oriented in directions where high stiness and
strength are required.

3 Shape: Due to easiness in handling and manufacturing bers, the most common shape of bers is circular. But
bers are available in the form of square and rectangle also.

4 Material: The material of the ber directly inuences the mechanical performance of a composite. Fibers are
generally expected to have high elastic moduli and strength than the matrix materials. The bers will also good
functional properties like, high thermal resistance, fatigue resistance and impact resistance.

15
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites

Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites (cont.)

Matrix factors

Matrix materials have low mechanical properties compared to those of bers.

Yet the matrix inuences many mechanical properties of the composite.

These properties include

Transverse modulus and strength

Shear modulus and strength
Compressive strength
Inter-laminar shear strength
Thermal expansion coecient
Thermal resistance and
Fatigue strength

16
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites

Factors that contribute to the mechanical performance of the composites (cont.)

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 bers from the matrix through bermatrix interface. So, it is clear that the load-transfer from the
matrix to the ber depends on the ber-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 ber surface and the matrix. Some bers 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 ber surfaces to improve the bond between the ber and the matrix.

(b) Mechanical bonding: Every material has some natural roughness on its surface. In composite materials, the
roughness on the ber surface causes interlocking between the ber and the matrix leading to the formation a
mechanical bond.

(c) Reaction bonding: It happens when molecules of the ber and the matrix diuse into each other only at the
interface. Due to this inter-diusion, a distinct interfacial layer, called the inter-phase, is created with dierent
properties from that of the ber or the matrix. Even though this thin interfacial layer helps to form a reaction
bonding, it also develops microcracks in the ber. These microcracks reduce the strength of the ber and
consequently that of the composite.

17
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Important Terminology

Terminology

The following terms are frequently used in composite materials and hence it is necessary to know these terms.

Staple ber : Represents discontinuous ber

Filament : Represents a single continuous ber
Strand : Represents a collection of untwisted bers (lament) approximately 100 to 200 in numbers.
Tow/Roving : Represents bundle of untwisted laments in large numbers, say 2000 to 12000 laments
Yarn : Represents bundle of twisted bers
Coupling agents : Used to get good bonding between ber and matrix (e.g.,chrome complexes, silanes and titanes)

Figure 1. Fibers.

18
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Composite material classication

Composite materials can be classied based on the form of their constituents, number of layers, orientation of
bers, length of bers etc. The tree diagram shown below shows a list of composite materials under respective
classication.

Figure 2. Composite material classication.

19
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Composite material classication (cont.)

The composite materials that we are discussing is mostly related to polymer composites, in which the polymer
is the matrix and the bers are reinforcements.

Depending on the size of the reinforcement we can classify the composites as

Fibrous composites,
Particulate composites,
Flakes composites
Wiskers composites
Nano composites.

[1] Fibre / Fibrous composites: Fibre is an individual lament of the material. A lament with length to
diameter ratio above 1000 is called a bre Or we can say, it is the form of bers in which the length of the ber
will be much higher than the cross sectional dimension. The cross sectional dimension will be in the order of
microns and length will be in the order of millimeters, centimeters or in meters. The brous form of the
reinforcement is widely used.

Depending on the length of the bers the composites can be classied as short ber composites and continuous
ber composites.

Continuous bres: If the bres used in a composite are very long and unbroken or cut then it forms a
continuous bre composite. A composite, thus formed using continuous bres is called as brous composite.
The brous composite is the most widely used form of composite.
When continuous bers are used as reinforcements, the composites can be unidirectional ( which makes use of
unidriectional mats (ud-mats), can be bi-directional ( bers are woven in two directions and are used) or
tri-directional ( 3-d, fabrics are used as reinforcements). The orientation of the layers will control the anisotropy
of the composites.

20
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Composite material classication (cont.)

Short/chopped bres: The bres are chopped into small pieces when used in fabricating a composite. A
composite with short bres as reinforcements is called as short bre composite.
In short ber composites the bers can be mixed with the resin system and the composite product can be obtained
by compression molding process. This will provide composites of bers with random orientation. Fibers can also be
allowed to ow with the resin and can be injected to a mold of dierent size and dimensions by which we may get
composites with aligned bers. Composites of short bers with random orientation will yield quasi-isotropic (having
isotropic properties in-plane) properties whereas composites of aligned short bers will yield orthotropic properties.

In the bre reinforced composites, the bre is the major load carrying constituent.

[2] Particulate: The reinforcement is in the form of particles which are of the order of a few microns in diameter.

Particulate composite consist of particles immersed in matrices such as alloys and ceramics.

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); and cement to make concrete.

The composite with reinforcement in particle form is called a particulate composite.

21
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Composite material classication (cont.)

[3] Flake: Flake is a small, at, 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 eective reinforcement components.

The akes can be packed more densely when they are laid parallel, even denser than unidirectional bres and
spheres.

Typical ake materials are glass, mica, aluminum, and silver.

For example, aluminum akes are used in paints.

They align themselves parallel to the surface of the coating which imparts the good properties.

However, akes cannot be oriented easily and only a limited number of materials are available for use.

[4] Whiskers: These are nearly perfect single crystal bres.

These are short, discontinuous and polygonal in cross-section.

22
 Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Composite material classication (cont.)

[5] Nanocomposites: −9
It consist of materials that are of the scale of nanometers (10 nm). The accepted range
to be classied as a nanocomposite is that one of the constituents is less than 100 nm. At this scale, the properties
of materials are dierent from those of the bulk material.

Generally, advanced composite materials have constituents on the microscale (10−6 m). By having materials at
the nanometer scale, most of the properties of the resulting composite material are better than the ones at the
microscale.

Not all properties of nanocomposites are better; in some cases, toughness and impact strength can decrease.

Applications of nanocomposites include packaging applications for the military in which nanocomposite lms
show improvement in properties such as elastic modulus, and transmission rates for water vapor, heat
distortion, and oxygen.

Body side molding of the 2004 Chevrolet Impala is made of olen based nanocomposites. This reduced the
weight of the molding by 7improved its surface quality. General Motors — currently uses 540,000 lb of
nanocomposite materials per year.

The brous composites can be further classied as,

single layer composites or multi layer composites depending upon the number of layers. Depending on the
requirement of thickness the number of layers can be changed.

When multilayers are used for making composites, the layers can be made of single material or from dierent
materials. If the composites are made with layers of dierent materials then the composites will be called as
hybrid composites. A hybrid composites will contain bers of glass, carbon and kevlar depending on the usage.

23
Introduction to Composite Materials
Composite material classication

Figure 3. Types of composites based on reinforcement shape..

24
 Fibers
Types of Fibers

What are the types of bres?

Classication of Fibers: Fibers can be classied based on their production, size and strength.

Based on production

1 Natural bres - The natural bres are divided into following three sub categories.
1 Animal bers: silk, wool, spider silk, sinew, camel hair, etc.
2 Plant/vegetable bers: cotton (seed), jute (stem), hemp (stem), sisal (leaf), ramie, bamboo, maze, sugarcane, banana,
kapok, coir, abaca, kenaf, ax, raa palm, etc.
3 Mineral bers: asbestos, basalt, mineral wool, glass wool.
These bers are naturally available. As such they have inferior quality than the synthetic or man-made bers. But,
natural bers are bio-degradable and there by eco-friendly.

The examples of natural bers are Banana, Coir, Jute, Palm, Pine apple, Roselle, Sisal

2 Synthetic/ Man-made/ Advanced bres - An advanced bre is dened as a bre which has a high specic
stiness (that is, ratio of Young's modulus to the density of the material) and a high specic strength (that is the
ratio of ultimate strength to the density of the material).

These bers are manufactured synthetically. So, they show superior qualities than the natural bers. But, synthetic
bers are not bio-degradable and so a threat to the environment pollution. The list of man-made bers includes-

Boron
Carbon
Ceramic
Glass
Graphite
Kevlar
Silica
Alumina
Aramid etc.

25
 Fibers
Types of Fibers

What are the types of bres? (cont.)

Based on size:

Fibers are divided into three categories based on their size.

They are
Filaments
Wires, and
Rods

Based on Strength:

Fibers are grouped into three based on their strength-wise performance. They are high, medium and low
performance bers.
For example,
High performance
Boron ber
Carbon ber
Kevlar ber
Medium performance
Glass ber
Low performance
Natural bers

26
 Fibers
Glass Fibers

Glass Fibers

Types of bers
Even though there are a variety of bers in the market, some of the bers widely used in the aerospace industry will
be discussed here.

1 Glass bers: Glass bers are the most common bers of all reinforcing bers for polymeric matrix
composites (PMC). The g.1.3 shows one of the forms of glass ber.

Figure 4. E-Glass woven ber.

27
 Fibers
Glass Fibers

Glass Fibers (cont.)

The principal advantages of glass bers are

Low cost

High tensile strength

High chemical resistance

Excellent insulating properties

The disadvantages are

Low tensile modulus

High density (among the commercial bers)

Sensitivity to abrasion during handling (which frequently decreases its tensile strength)

Low fatigue resistance

High hardness (which causes excessive wear on molding dies and cutting tools)

28
 Fibers
Glass Fibers

Glass Fibers (cont.)

0
Fibers of glass are produced by extruding molten glass, at a temperature around 1200 C through holes in a
spinneret with diameter of 1 or 2 mm and then drawing the laments to produce bers having diameters usually
between 5 to 15 µm.
The bres have low modulus but signicantly higher stiness.

Individual laments are small in diameters, isotropic and very exible as the diameter is small.

The glass bres come in variety of forms based on silica which is combined with other elements to create speciality
glass for specic applications.

The cheapest among all the glass bers is E-glass ber and S-glass has the highest tensile strength.

The types of glass bers are:

A-glass
Has high alkaline content
C-glass
resists corrosion in an acid environment. Used in chemical applications since having good corrosion resistance
E-glass
high strength and high resistivity. Used in electrical applications & FRP industry and low cost
S-glass
high strength, modulus and stability under extreme temperature and corrosive environment.
Used for aircraft components and missile casings owing to having high strength
Z-glass
Used for communication purposes

29
 Fibers
Glass Fibers

Glass Fibers (cont.)

Table 2. Mechanical properties of glass bers: The table below shows the properties of E-glass and S-glass which are
widely used than other types of glass bers..

30
 Fibers
Glass Fibers

Glass Fibers (cont.)

Table 3. Composition of glass ber: Various types of glass bers are manufactured based on the compositions. In all of
the glass bers Silica and calcium oxide play major role. The other alloy used in glass bers are given in the table below..

31
 Fibers
Boron Fibers

Boron Fibers

This bre was rst introduced by Talley in 1959.

In commercial production of boron bres, the method of Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) is used.

The CVD is a process in which one material is deposited onto a substrate to produce near theoretical density
and small grain size for the deposited material.

In CVD the material is deposited on a thin lament.

The material grows on this substrate and produces a thicker lament.

It is the ne and dense structure of the deposited material which determines the strength and modulus of the
bre.

In the fabrication of boron bre by CVD, the boron trichloride is mixed with hydrogen and boron is deposited
according to the reaction

2BCl3 (g ) + 3H2 (g ) −→ 2B(s) + 6HCl(g )

32
 Fibers
Boron Fibers

Boron Fibers (cont.)

Boron bers are manufactured by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of boron onto a heated substrate (either a
tungsten wire or a carbon monolament).

During this process, the atoms diuse into tungsten core to produce the complete boridization and the
production of WB4 andW2 B5 .
The tungsten bre of 12µm diameter is used in general.

This step induces signicant residual stresses in the bre. The core is subjected to compression and the
neighbouring boron mantle is subjected to tension.

Figure 5. The CVD method for boron bres.

The most prominent feature of boron bers is their extremely high tensile modulus, which is in the range of
379414 GPa.

Coupled with their relatively large diameter, boron bers oer excellent resistance to buckling.

33
 Fibers
Boron Fibers

Boron Fibers (cont.)

The key features of this bre are listed below:

These are ceramic monolament ber.
Fiber itself is a composite.
Circular cross section.
Fiber diameter ranges between 33-400µm and typical diameter is 140 µm.
Boron is brittle hence large diameter results in lower exibility.
Thermal coecient mismatch between boron and tungsten results in thermal residual stresses during fabrication
cool down to room temperature.
Strong in both tension and compression.
Exhibits linear axial stress-strain relationship up to 6500 C .
Since this bre requires a specialized procedure for fabrication, the cost of production is relatively high.

34
 Fibers
Boron Fibers

Boron Fibers (cont.)

Even though it is very costly, it has certain advantages over other bers which include
High tensile modulus
High compressive strength
Relatively large diameter
Boron bers are used mostly in
aerospace industry and also used in
Turbine blade Transmission shafts
Figure 6. The boron bre structure and its composite.

35
 Fibers
Carbon Fibers

Carbon Fibers

Carbon bers have carbon content of 95% and contain a blend of amorphous carbon and graphite carbon.
Their high tensile modulus is due to the presence of graphite form in which carbon atoms are arranged in a
crystallagraphic structure of parallel layers.

Figure 7. Carbon ber.

36
 Fibers
Carbon Fibers

Carbon Fibers (cont.)

The raw material used to make carbon ber is called the precursor.

About 90% of the carbon bers produced are made from polyacrylonitrile. The remaining 10% are made from rayon
or petroleum pitch. All of these materials are organic polymers, characterized by long strings of molecules bound
together by carbon atoms. The exact composition of each precursor varies from one company to another and is
generally considered a trade secret.

Carbon bers are manufactured from precursor materials: There are two types of precursor materials (i)
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and (ii) rayon pitch, that is, the residue of petroleum rening.

1 Textile precursor, PAN (Poly Acrylonitrile)

These bers are generally categorized into high tensile strength, high modulus and ultrahigh modulus types.

2 Pitch

These bers have very high modulus but their tensile strength and strain to failure ratio are lower than those of
PAN.
They are less in cost than that of PAN.

Some advantages of carbon bers are

High stiness (Due to less elongation)

Less specic gravity

Can withstand at high temperature

Negative coecient of thermal expansion

Used for aerospace & radar applications

37
 Fibers
Carbon Fibers

Carbon Fibers (cont.)

But carbon bers have low strain-to-failure, low impact resistance, high electrical conductivity and high cost.

Resistance to Fatigue in Carbon Fiber Composites is good. However when carbon ber fails it usually fails
catastrophically without much to announce its imminent break.

In composite laminates, carbon bre is a high-grade way of increasing the stiness and strength of the
component and of reducing its weight. Carbon bres are classied into three groups, according to their
mechanical properties.

Table 4. Mechanical properties of carbon bers.

38
 Fibers
Carbon Fibers

Carbon Fibers (cont.)

The carbon content in carbon bers is about 80-90 % and in Graphite bers the carbon content is in excess of
99%.
0 0
Carbon bre is produced at about 1300 C while the graphite bre is produced in excess of 1900 C . The
0
carbon bers become graphitized by heat treatment at temperature above 1800 C .

Carbon bers term is used for both carbon bers and graphite bers.
0 0
Maximum use of temperature of the bers ranges from 250 C to 2000 C .

The use temperature of a composite is controlled by the use temperature of the matrix.

Fiber diameter ranges from 4 to10 µm.

A tow consists of about 3000 to 30000 laments.

Small diameter results in very exible ber and can actually be tied in to a knot without breaking the ber.

PAN based carbon bers typically have an onion skin appearance with the basal planes in more or less circular
arcs, whereas the morphology of pitch-based ber is such that the basal planes lie along radial planes. Thus,
carbon bers are anisotropic.

39
 Fibers
Aramid Fibers

Aramid Fibers

These bres are from Aromatic polyamide, that is, nylons family.

Aramid is derived from Ar of Aromatric and amid of polyamide.

Examples of bres from nylon family: Polyamide 6, that is, nylon 6 and Polyamide 6.6, that is, nylon 6.6

These are organic bers.

Du Pont developed these bers under the trade name Kevlar. From poly (p-phenylene terephthalamide (PPTA)
polymer.

Morphology  radially arranged crystalline sheets resulting into anisotropic properties.

Filament diameter about 12 µm and partially exible.

High tensile strength.

Intermediate modulus.

Signicantly lower strength in compression.

Aramid is a class of strong, synthetic bers in the family are trademarked name Kevlar Nomex, Twaron, and
Technora. The dierence is in their structure, Kevlar is para-aramid while Nomex is meta-aramid.

5 grades of Kevlar with varying engineering properties are available. Kevlar-29, Kevlar-49, Kevlar-100,
Kevlar-119 and Kevlar-129.

40
 Fibers
Aramid Fibers

Kevlar Fibers

Kevlar bers are highly crystalline aromatic polyamide bers. They have the lowest density and the highest
tensile strength-to-weight ratio. Kevlar-49 is the trade name.

Figure 8. Kevlar ber.

41
 Fibers
Aramid Fibers

Kevlar Fibers (cont.)

The major benets of Kevlar ber

are Lowest density

Highest tensile strength-to-weight ratio (Aerospace applications & Ballistic applications)

Resistance to impact damage

Negative coecient of thermal expansion (Used in low thermal expansion composite panels)

The disadvantages of kevlar bers are

Low compressive strengths

Diculty in cutting or machining

Kevlar ber- reinforced composites are Bullet proof jackets, Biomedical, Armor vehicles

42
 Fibers
Aramid Fibers

Kevlar Fibers (cont.)

Table 5. Mechanical properties of Kevlar bers: several grades of Kevlar.

43
 Fibers
Extended Chain Polyethylene Fibers

Extended Chain Polyethylene Fibers

They are called by their trade name 'Spectra'. These bers are produced by gel spinning a
high-molecular-weight polyethylene.

Gel spinning yields a highly oriented brous structure with exceptionally high crystallinity (95%99%) relative
to melt spinning used for conventional polyethylene bers.

The major advantages are-

Highest strength-to-weight ratio
Low moisture absorption
High abrasion resistance
High impact resistance even at low temperature
Drawbacks
Poor adhesion with resin matrices
Low melting point, which leads to high level of creep above 100ºC
Their applications include
Marine composites (Boat hulls & water skis)
Ballistic composites (Armors, helmets)

44
 Fibers
Extended Chain Polyethylene Fibers

Extended Chain Polyethylene Fibers (cont.)

Table 6. Mechanical properties of Spectra bers.

45
 Fibers
Ceramic Fibers

Ceramic Fibers

Silicon carbide (SiC) and aluminum oxide (Al2 O3 ) bers are examples of ceramic bers.

They are very notable for their high-temperature applications in metal and ceramic matrix
composites.

The major advantages are

Suitable for reinforcing metal matrices
Low thermal expansion

46
 Matrix

Matrix

Introduction

In the previous lecture we have introduced various advanced bres along with their fabrication processes,
precursor materials and key features.

Now we will introduce some matrix materials, their key features and applications.

What are the matrix materials used in composites?

The matrix materials used in composites can be broadly categorized as:

Polymers,
Metals,
Ceramics
Carbon and Graphite.

47
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix

The polymeric matrix materials are divided into:

Thermoplastic  which soften upon heating and can be reshaped with heat and pressure.
Thermoset  which become cross linked during fabrication (Why so? because when thermoset are heated the
polymer chain being attaching to each other and the process called cross-linking and which gives a structure a
permamanent 3D structure, Which makes it more resistant to melting) and
Also, it does not soften upon reheating.
Cannot be reshaped.

What are the thermoplastic matrix materials? What are their key features?
The following are the thermoplastic materials:
1. polypropylene,
2. polyvinyl chloride,
3. nylon,
4. polyurethane,
5. poly-ether-ether ketone (PEEK),
6. polyphenylene sulde (PPS),
7. polysulpone.

48
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

The key features of the thermoplastic matrix materials are:

higher toughness
high volume
low cost processing
The use temperature range is upto 2250 C

What are the thermoset matrix materials? What are their key features?
The thermoset matrix materials are:

1. polyesters,
2. epoxies,
3. polyimides.

The key features of these materials are discussed.

49
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Polyesters

Used extensively with glass bers

Inexpensive

Light weight
0
Temperature range upto 100 C .

Resistant to environmental exposures

Epoxy

1 Expensive

2 Better moisture resistance

3 Lower shrinkage on curing (Curing is a chemical process employed in polymer chemistry and process engineering
that produces the toughening or hardening of a polymer material by cross-linking of polymer chains.)
o
4 Use temperature is about 175 C

Polyimide

0
1 Higher use temperature about 300 C

2 Dicult to fabricate

50
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

What are the problems with the use of polymer matrix materials?

1 Limited temperature range.

2 Susceptibility to environmental degradation due to moisture, radiation, atomic oxygen (in space)

3 Low transverse strength.

4 High residual stress due to large mismatch in coecients of thermal expansion between ber and matrix.

5 Polymer matrix cannot be used near or above the glass transition temperature (is the temperature at which a
polymer turns from a ductile material to a hard, brittle material. Each polymer with an amorphous structure
has its own unique glass transition temperature, which makes a given polymer better suited for some
applications over others).

51
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Comparison between Thermoplastics and Thermosets

Table 7. Comparison between thermoplastics and thermosets..

52
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Polymer Matrix Composites

The most common advanced composites are polymer matrix composites (PMCs) consisting of a polymer
(e.g., epoxy, polyester, urethane) reinforced by thin diameter bers (e.g., graphite, aramids, boron).

For example, graphite/ epoxy composites are approximately ve times stronger than steel on a weightfor-
weight basis.

The reasons why they are the most common composites include their low cost, high strength, and simple
manufacturing principles.

The main drawbacks of PMCs include

low operating temperatures,
high coecients of thermal and moisture expansion,
and low elastic properties in certain directions.
The most common bers used are glass, graphite, and Kevlar

53
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Polymer Matrix Composites

Various polymers used in advanced polymer composites

These polymers include epoxy, phenolics, acrylic, urethane, and polyamide.

Each polymer has its advantages and drawbacks in its use

Polyesters: The advantages are low cost and the ability to be made translucent; drawbacks include service
temperatures below 170°F (77°C), brittleness, and high shrinkage of as much as 8% during curing.
Phenolics: The advantages are low cost and high mechanical strength; drawbacks include high void content.
Epoxies: The advantages are high mechanical strength and good adherence to metals and glasses; drawbacks are
high cost and diculty in processing.
Epoxy is the most common type of matrix material. Why?
Although epoxy is costlier than other polymer matrices, it is the most popular PMC matrix.
More than two-thirds of the polymer matrices used in aerospace applications are epoxy based.
The main reasons why epoxy is the most used polymer matrix material are
High strength
Low viscosity and low ow rates, which allow good wetting of bers and prevent misalignment of bers during
processing
Low volatility during cure
Low shrink rates, which reduce the tendency of gaining large shear stresses of the bond between epoxy and its
reinforcement
Available in more than 20 grades to meet specic property and processing requirements

54
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Polymer Matrix Composites

Give typical applications of polymer matrix composites-

Applications of polymer matrix composites range from tennis racquets to the space shuttle.

A few examples have been taken-

Aircraft: The military aircraft industry has mainly led the use of polymer composites.
The percentage of structural weight of composites that was less than 2% in F-15s in the 1970s has increased to
about 30% on the AV-8B in the 1990s. In both cases, the weight reduction over metal parts was more than 20%.
In commercial airlines, the use of composites has been conservative because of safety concerns. Use of composites
is limited to secondary structures such as rudders and elevators made of graphite/epoxy for the Boeing 767 and
landing gear doors made of Kevlargraphite/epoxy.
Composites are also used in panels and oorings of airplanes.
Some examples of using composites in the primary structure are the all-composite Lear Fan 2100 plane (was a
turboprop business aircraft designed in the 1970s) and the tail n of the Airbus A310-300.
In the latter case, the tail n consists of graphite/epoxy and aramid honeycomb.
It not only reduced the weight of the tail n by 662 lb (300 kg) but also reduced the number of parts from 2000 to
100.
Skins of aircraft engine cowls are also made of polymer matrix composites for reducing weight.
Helicopters and tiltrotors use graphite/epoxy and glass/ epoxy rotor blades that not only increase the life of blades
by more than 100% over metals but also increase the top speeds.

55
 Matrix

Polymeric matrix (cont.)

Polymer Matrix Composites

Space: Two factors make composites the material of choice in space applications: high specic modulus and
strength, and dimensional stability during large changes in temperature in space.

Examples include the Graphite/ epoxy-honeycomb payload bay doors in the space shuttle.

Weight savings over conventional metal alloys translate to higher payloads.

Also, for the space shuttles, graphite/ epoxy was chosen primarily for weight savings

Antenna ribs and struts in s atellite systems use graphite/epoxy for their high specic stiness and its ability
to meet the dimensional stability requirements due to large temperature excursions in space.

In June 2004, Paul G. Allen and Scaled Composites launched the rst privately manned vehicle, called
SpaceshipOne, beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
The spaceship reached a record-breaking altitude of approximately 62 miles (100 km).
SpaceshipOne is constructed from graphite- epoxy composite materials;
a trowel-on ablative thermal protection layer protects its hotter sections.
Sporting goods-:
Graphite/epoxy is replacing metals in golf club shafts mainly to decrease the weight.
Bicycles use hybrid construction of graphite/epoxy composites.
Tennis and racquetball rackets with graphite/epoxy frames are now commonplace. The primary reasons for using
composites are that they improve the torsional rigidity of the racquet and reduce risk of elbow injury due to
vibration damping
Medical, Marine, Automotive etc.

56
 Matrix

Metal matrix

What are the common metals used as matrix materials?

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).
Disadvantages:
Heavier
More susceptible to interface degradation at the ber/matrix interface and
Corrosion is a major problem for the metals

Metals are mainly reinforced to increase or decrease their properties to suit the needs of design. For example, the
elastic stiness and strength of metals can be increased, and large coecients of thermal expansion and thermal
and electric conductivities of metals can be reduced, by the addition of bers such as silicon carbide.

The attractive feature of the metal matrix composites is the higher temperature use. The aluminum matrix

0
composite can be used in the temperature range upward of 300 C while the titanium matrix composites can be
0
used above 800 C .

57
 Matrix

Metal matrix (cont.)

MMCs have several advantages over polymer matrix composites. These include higher elastic properties; higher
service temperature; insensitivity to moisture; higher electric and thermal conductivities; and better wear,
fatigue, and aw resistances. The drawbacks of MMCs over PMCs include higher processing temperatures and
higher densities.

Some of the applications of metal matrix composites-

Space: The space shuttle uses boron/aluminum tubes to support its fuselage frame. In addition to decreasing
the mass of the space shuttle by more than 320 lb (145 kg), boron/aluminum also reduced the thermal
insulation requirements because of its low thermal conductivity.

Military: Precision components of missile guidance systems demand dimensional stability  that is, the
geometries of the components cannot change during use. Metal matrix composites such as SiC/ aluminum
composites satisfy this requirement because they have high microyield strength (Micro-yield strength is the
6
stress corresponding to a residual strain of 1 × 10 , which is an important indicator in measuring the resistance
to micro-yield deformation).
In addition, the volume fraction of SiC can be varied to have a coecient of thermal expansion compatible with
other parts of the system assembly.
Transportation: Metal matrix composites are nding use now in automotive engines that are lighter than
their metal counterparts. Also, because of their high strength and low weight, metal matrix composites are the
material of choice for gas turbine engines.

58
 Matrix

Ceramic matrix

What are the ceramic matrix materials?

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have a ceramic matrix such reinforced by bers such as carbon or silicon
carbide.
The carbon, silicon carbide and silicon nitride are ceramics and used as matrix materials.

Advantages are:
Advantages of CMCs include high strength, hardness,
high service temperature limits for ceramics (The ceramic composites have very high temperature range of above
20000 C .),
chemical inertness,
and low density.
High elastic modulus
Low density

Disadvantages are:
The ceramics are very brittle in nature.
Low fracture toughness. Under tensile or impact loading, they fail catastrophically.
Reinforcing ceramics with bers, such as silicon carbide or carbon, increases their fracture toughness because it causes
gradual failure of the composite.
This combination of a ber and ceramic matrix makes CMCs more attractive for applications in which high mechanical
properties and extreme service temperatures are desired.

59
 Matrix

Ceramic matrix (cont.)

Ceramic matrix composites are nding increased application in high-temperature areas in which metal and
polymer matrix composites cannot be used.

This is not to say that CMCs are not attractive otherwise, especially considering their high strength and
modulus, and low density.

Applications include cutting tool inserts in oxidizing and high-temperature environments.

Textron Systems Corporation
®
has developed ber-reinforced ceramics with SCS— monolaments for future
aircraft engines

60
 Matrix

Carbon matrix

The advantages of the carbon matrix materials are:

Reinforcement of a carbon matrix allows the composite to fail gradually
ability to withstand high temperatures at 22000 C .
Carbon/carbon bond is stronger at elevated temperature than room temperature.
low creep at high temperatures, low density, good tensile and compressive strengths, high fatigue resistance, high
thermal conductivity, and high coecient of friction.

The disadvantages of the carbon matrix materials are:

low shear strength, and susceptibility to oxidations at high temperatures.
The fabrication is expensive.
The multistage processing results in complexity and higher additional cost.

A composite with carbon bres 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
0
temperature resistance is required. The carbon-carbon composites can resist the temperatures upto 3000 C .

The advantages of carbon-carbon composites are:

Very strong and light as compared to graphite bre alone.
Low density.
Excellent tensile and compressive strength.
Low thermal conductivity.
High fatigue resistance.
High coecient of friction.

61
 Matrix

Carbon matrix (cont.)

The disadvantages of carbon-carbon composites are:

Susceptible to oxidation at elevated temperatures.
High material and production cost.
Low shear strength.

Space shuttle nose cones: As the shuttle enters Earth's atmosphere, temperatures as high as 3092 F °
°
(1700 C) are experienced.

Carbon carbon composite is a material of choice for the nose cone because it has the lowest overall weight of all
ablative materials (Ablative materials absorb heat through pyrolysis at or near the exposed surfaces.);
high thermal conductivity to prevent surface cracking; high specic heat (Specic heat is the amount of heat
required to heat a unit mass of a substance through a unit temperature.) to absorb large heat ux;
and high thermal shock resistance to low temperatures in space of 238°F (150°C) to 3092°F (1700°C) due to
re-entry.
Also, the carboncarbon nose remains undamaged and can be reused many times.

Mechanical fasteners: Fasteners needed for high temperature applications are made of carboncarbon
composites because they lose little strength at high temperatures.

62
 Matrix

Range of use temperature for matrix materials in composites

Figure below depicts the range of use temperature for matrix material in composites. 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.

Figure 9. Range of use temperature for matrix materials in composites.

63
 Matrix

What are prepregs?

Prepregs are a ready-made tape composed of bers in a polymer matrix.

They are available in standard widths from 3 to 50 in. (76 to 1270 mm).

Depending on whether the polymer matrix is thermoset or thermoplastic, the tape is stored in a refrigerator or
at room temperature, respectively.

One can lay these tapes manually or mechanically at various orientations to make a composite structure.

Vacuum bagging and curing under high pressures and temperatures may follow.

Figure 10. Prepreg tape.

64
Matrix

65