ME3400: Characteristics and

types of composites

Fan Shi
2022 Fall
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Review of last lecture
▪ Definition of composite
▪ Advantage of composite
▪ Natural and man-made composites
( Wood cell, Bone, Concrete etc.)
▪ Constituents of composites

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Comparison among various materials
Composite achieves a balance

strong
Polymer:
Light but weak

Ceramics:
Strong but heavy

Metal:
Strong but heavy

Composite:
weak Strong and light

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light heavy
Structural performance of monolithic materials:
table

Note that ceramics varies

at different geometries
Bulk or fiber
4
Mechanical performance of composite
One example:

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer

(CFRP)

CFRP
Stronger, lighter and
more ductile

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Some concepts of materials
Numbers of constituent materials

• Single-phase / monolithic materials Commonly seen

• 2-phase / biphase materials
• Triple phase materials
• Multiphase materials

Overall property of materials

• Homogeneous materials Property from point to

• Heterogeneous / inhomogeneous materials point

• Isotropic materials Important!

Property associated
• Orthotropic materials
with directions
• Anisotropic materials

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Homogeneous and heterogeneous
Homogeneous:
Properties are the same at
every point or are
independent of spatial
locations
Heterogeneous:
Properties vary from
point to point, or rely on
spatial locations

A
A

The same Not the

same!

B
B

𝜌 𝐴 = 𝜌 𝐵 = 𝜌0 𝜌 𝐴 ≠𝜌 𝐵
Properties can be density, Young’s modulus, shear modulus … 8
Homogeneous or heterogeneous?
Depends on the scale you view!
Scale of A and B,
Scale of a and b,
homogeneous
heterogeneous
• In general, the
larger the scale
is, the more
homogeneous
the material is.
• In contrast, the
smaller the scale
is, the more
heterogeneous
the material is

There is no ‘absolute’ homogeneous material, all depending on the scale.

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Micro and macro scales?

Macro scale Micro scale

Reduce scale

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Isotropic and anisotropic
Isotropic: Anisotropic:
Properties are the Properties vary with
same in all directions direction

For a point x, if Pi(x) = P0 for any direction Pi, then the material is isotropic.
Otherwise it is anisotropic.
The property P(x) can be Young’s modulus, strength, conductivity, Poisson’s
ratio etc.
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Mechanical isotropy and anisotropy
Pulling force σ Pulling force σ

x
σ σ

Degree of anisotropy?

Isotropy: Anisotropic:
Deformation is the same in Deformation changes when
any direction of forcing changing the direction of forcing
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Isotropic or Anisotropic?
Also depends on the scale you view!
Scale of A and B, homogeneous
and anisotropic
Scale of a and b,
Heterogeneous
and isotropic
• In the scale A and
B, we can clearly
see the fibers are
unidirectional,
which gives
anisotropy to the
material.
• In the scale a and
b, we only see
‘tiny’ local single
layer of fiber and
matrix, which can
be both isotropic
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Exercise:
Remarks:
When considering whether
the representative scale is
homogeneous, one should
check if the property is the
same within this scale from
point to point.

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Discussion:
Describe the following material:
(Is it homogeneous, inhomogeneous, isotropic or anisotropic?)

Straw bricks used by

ancient Egyptians
1300BC.

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Types and classifications of composites
Lamina

Lay up/stack

Laminates

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Types and classifications of composites
Discontinuous fiber reinforced
composites
• Characterised as high aspect ratio of
longitudinal and transverse length
• The distribution of orientation
determines its direction associated
properties.

Continuous fiber reinforced composites

• The most efficient way to reinforce
the strength and stiffness of the
material
• The overall property depends on the
ways of weaving and stacking

Parallel, right angle cross orthotropic

Multidirectional woven isotropic

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Classified by matrix materials

Relatively low
temperature
applications

The working
temperature
depends on
softening and
melting point.
Very high working
temperature

High stiffness, moderate strength, low density and

high application temperature
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Configurations of fiber-reinforced composites
Lamina and laminate
Lamina – or ply, is a plane (or curved) layer
of unidirectional fibers or woven fabric in a
matrix

It is an orthotropic sheet with principal

directions aligned with the longitudinal,
transverse and normal directions of fibers.

stacking
Laminate – is made up of two or more
unidirectional laminae or plies stacked
together at various orientations.

The principal axes of each lamina vary from ply to

ply. The global coordinate system (x,y,z) is not
aligned with special axes.
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Multidirectional laminate

The stacking
process is also
called layup.

In the lab session,

you will know details
about how to lay
up/stack multiple
plies.

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Other laminates
Hybrid laminated composite

CLARE used in Airbus 380

Sanderson, Nature (2008), 453,

264-265

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVdN
AYQ_RCs

Curved laminates
(Ply drops where
rich resin is
required)

Smith et al., QNDE

(2016)
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Laminates --- stacking sequence
Unidirectional n-ply: [0/0/…/0] = [0n] Angle-ply symmetric: [α/-α/-α/α ]

Other ways of stacking

Crossply symmetric ply: [0/90/90/0 ] = [0/90]s • angle-ply asymmetric:
[α/-α/α/-α/α/-α ]
• Multidirectional:
[α/β/α/α/β/α]
• Hybrid:
[αk/βc/ϒg … ϒg/βc/αk]
K,c and g stands for Kevlar,
carbon and glass
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 Scale of analysis for composites
Matrix
Micromechanics: the study of local interactions Fiber
between fiber and matrix and their interface.
Chapter 3&5
Stress, strain, failure of fibers, matrix etc. micromechanics

Macromechanics: the study of overall mechanical

behaviors of laminates and structures.
Lamina
Large scale average properties and failure criteria
by treating the lamina as homogeneous and macromechanics
anisotropic media.
Chapter 4&6
Structure analysis

Laminate

structure MECH 3650 Aircraft structures 23

Elastic properties of lamina
• Ei: Young’s modulus along the principal direction of
lamina
( i = longitudinal, transverse and normal direction of
reinforcement, i = 1,2 or 3)

• Shear modulus in 1-2, 2-3, and 1-3 planes.

G12 = G21, G23 = G32 , G13 = G31 due to the symmetry

• νij : Poisson’s ratio (i-loading, j-deformation direction).

They are not necessarily symmetric

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Fracture properties of lamina
• Tensile strength: F1t, F2t, F3t

• Compressive strength: F1c, F2c, F3c

• Shear strength: F12, F23, F13

Longitudinal tension test Longitudinal compression test

Transverse Transverse
tension compression

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Linking composite with constituent materials
From a design point of view, the mechanical properties of a composite can be
controlled by constituent material properties and geometrical parameters.

Fiber and matrix Composite

(control parameters) (objective)

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Geometrical parameters
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠
• Fiber volume fraction: 𝑉𝑓 =
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠
• Fiber weight fraction: 𝑊𝑓 =
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥
• Matrix volume fraction: 𝑉𝑚 =
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥
• Matrix weight fraction: : 𝑊𝑚 = 1 − 𝑊𝑓 =
𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

• Void volume fraction: 𝑉𝑣 = 1 − 𝑉𝑓 − 𝑉𝑚

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Case study: Aircraft composite turbine blades

Rolls Royce Ultrafan GE composite fan blade

(carbon-titanium (CTi) ) (carbon)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoNySabChvA

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Fiber material --- glass fiber
• Main feature of glass fiber
1. Most common type of fibers, used for low to
medium performance polymer composites
2. The cheapest: 0.55-2.00 US$/1b
3. Structure: amorphous (SiO4)2- + sodium,
calcium, etc.

• Types of glass fiber

1. E-glass ( E: Electrical)
Most commonly used for electrical applications
2. S-glass ( S: Stiffness and Strength)
Higher specific stiffness and strength
3. C/T-glass ( C: Corrosion, T: Thermal insulator)
Resistance to chemical corrosion and hygrothermal
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Characteristic of glass fiber

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Fabrication of glass fiber

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Fiber material --- carbon fiber
The most widely used reinforcement materials for advanced polymer
composites

• Advantages:
(1) High strength and ultra-high
specific modulus;
(2) Good performance at high
temperature;
(3) Relatively low density
(4) Coupled physical mechanical
functions for emerging applications

• Disadvantages
(1) Expensive, 5~10 US$/1b
(2) Difficult to make approximate 10 times more
expensive than glass fibers
• Types of carbon fiber
(1) Carbon (AS4, T300, IM7)
(2) Graphite (GY-70)
very high stiffness
but low strength 32
Carbon fiber structure
The atomic structure of carbon fiber is
similar to graphite, which consists of
sheets of carbon atoms arranged in
hexagonal symmetry
Carbon fibers are made from
precursor organic fibers (PAN,
petroleum pitch)
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Mechanical properties of carbon fibers

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How to make carbon fibers

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Aramid (Kevlar) fiber
Invented by Stephanie Kwolek
while she was working for
Advantages: DuPont in 1970s.
• Aramid fibers are the strongest organic fibers
made by dissolving polymer from sulphuric
acid.
• High stiffness, e.g. Kevlar 49 and 149 have very
high modulus
• High toughness, often used in combination with
glass fibers and carbon fibers

Disadvantages:
• Expensive: >10 US$/1b
• Sensitive to moisture and environment
(temperature, UV, corrosion)
• Poor in compression (highly anisotropic)

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Mechanical properties of Kevlar fibers

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Different fiber materials: Comparison
Stress-strain relation showing the modulus of
various fibers
• PAN based carbon fibers
have the highest strength
and very high stiffness
• Graphite fibers have the
highest modulus, but
lowest strength
• Glass fibers can sustain
large deformation but have
smallest stiffness
• Aramid fibers have
moderate strength and
stiffness.

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Matrix material
Main carrier of load that dominates the primary mechanics and
environmental susceptibility

Thermal stability

Themoset polymers: the polymer becomes permanent hard upon heating.

This process is called ‘curing’. Epoxy, polyester etc.

Thermoplastic polymers: the polymer becomes deformable/moldable upon

heating. The molecular chain structure is reversible after cooling.

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Matrix material

After cooling down, it becomes harder and

stronger. Cross-linking process is called
‘curing’
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Prepregs
What is prepreg?
A layer of aligned fibers (unidirectional or woven) is preimpregnated with
partially cured resin.

• Typical fiber preparation procedure

independent of the composite manufacturing
process.
• Fibers are preimpregnated with resin partially
cured
• Advantages:
• No constant mixing of resin and no need to
worry about the correct proportion of resin +
fiber
• Thermoset resin used- resin would be partially
cured, prepreg tape needs to be refrigerated to
prevent full curing
• Thermoplastic resin used – can be stored in
room temperature until it is melted during final
use.

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Manufacturing methods for composites -- autoclave
Autoclave: a widely used method for aerostructures

Mold design → prepregs assembly→ resin injection → curing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta47wW
Ytdfg 43