COMPOSITE MATERIALS

• WE USE A LOT OF THINGS MADE OF

COMPOSITES IN OUR DAILY LIFE.
• Boat hulls, surfboards, sporting goods,
swimming pool linings, building panels,
car bodies, they are all made of
composites.
• All these things are made of Fiberglass
which was the first modern composite,
developed in 1940s.
 What are composites????
• Composite materials are engineered materials
made from two or more constituent materials
with significantly different physical or chemical
properties.
• The different materials work together to give
the composite unique properties, but within the
composite the different constituents can be
identified i.e. they do not dissolve or blend into
each other.
Basic characterstics of
Composites……………..
• It contains two or more physically distinct
and mechanically separable materials.
• It is made by dispersing one material in the
other in a controlled way to achieve optimum
properties.
• The properties of the composite are superior
and possibly unique in some specific respects
to the properties of individual components.
ADVANTAGES:

High Strength
Light Weight
Design Flexibility
Consolidation of Parts
Net Shape Manufacturing
 COMPOSITE STRUCTURE
• Composites have two constituent materials:
1.MATRIX - The matrix material surrounds and
supports the reinforcement materials by
maintaining their relative positions. E.g.
Polyester, Vinyl esters, epoxy.
2.REINFORCEMENT- The reinforcements impart
their special mechanical and physical
properties to enhance the matrix properties.
E.g. carbon, aramid.
 FUNCTIONS
MATRIX
• Transfer Load to Reinforcement
• Temperature Resistance
• Chemical Resistance
REINFORCEMENT
• Tensile Properties
• Stiffness
• Impact Resistance
Examples of composites:

• WOOD is a natural composite of Cellulose

fibres in a matrix of lignin.

• BRICK is the most primitive manmade

composite material made by combining
straw and mud.
 MODERN COMPOSITES

• Fibre reinforced plastics (FRP)- It includes

carbon fibre reinforced plastics(CFRP) and
glass reinforced plastics(GRP)
• Metal Matrix Composites(MMC)
• Ceramic Matrix Composites like bone,
concrete etc.
COMPOSITES IN SHIPBUILDING

• Generally, Fibre reinforced plastics are

used as shipbuilding materials.
• The most common type of FRP used is
Glass Reinforced Plastic
 INTRODUCTION
FIBERGLASS
• Fiber glass is composite material consisting
of two principal components. Fiber and Resin

• The resin is the major part. (About 80%).It

makes the boats watertight, binds fiber
together without which their strength cannot
be captured. Glass fibers are the
strengthening members of the FRP.
• BASIC STRUCTURE
• A fiberglass molding is built up of layer by layer
of series of laminations. Each layer of fiber glass
is bonded to other layer by lines of polyester
resin.
TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION
1)UNSTIFFENED SINGLE SKIN
The simplest form of a fiberglass is skin
without stiffening. This type of construction
is used for small, open low speed boats up
to about eighteen feet length. The skin is
having considerable strength from its
curved shape common to most of small
boats. The large flat areas should be
avoided.
2)SINGLE SKIN WITH FRAMING.
• The framing is basically of two types.
Longitudinal and transverse.

• For small boats, where the required frame

size is small, frames sometimes made up
unidirectional rowing built up to form solid
rectangular cross section.
 3)SANDWICH CONSTRUCTION.
• The most complex type of construction is
the sandwich. This consists of two
fiberglass laminates separated by core of
light weight material. The purpose of
construction is to increase the rigidity of
the flat panel by increasing its thickness
without use of a solid laminate
MATERIALS
• GLASS
The glass filament used in boat hull construction
is a lime-alumina borosilicate E.
• Usually fiberglass filaments 0.0020 to 0.0010
inches in diameter. they are manufactured as
parallel bundles known as strands.
• The strands usually consist of 204 glass
filaments drawn together without twisting.
Resins
• The resins most commonly used are
thermosetting types. Mainly two types of
thermosetting plastics are used, polyester and
epoxy
Catalysts
• Catalysts, in the form of pastes or liquids ,are
added to polyesters to start polymerization or
the curing reaction. approximately 1 to 2 percent
by weight of a catalyst is used in the resin.
Benzoyl peroxide dispersed in dibutyl phthalate,
and methyl ethyl ketone peroxide are several of
many organic peroxides used for this purpose
Accelerators
• Accelerators are usually added
to polyester resins to initiate a cure at
room temperature. Cobalt naphthenate
and dimethyl aniline are two commonly
used accelerators
Fillers and pigments
• Fillers and pigments are added
to the molding resins to reduce
shrinkage , minimize crazing ,lower
material cost ,impart color or opacity and
to improve surface finishes .
STRENGTH OF FRP
• The strength of GRP materials can be obtained
from the formula
• Ultimate tensile strength = 1278Gc2-
510Gc+123N/mm2
• Tensile modulus E = (370Gc-
4.25) x103 N/mm2
• Compressive Strength = 150Gc
+72 N/mm2
• Gc is the glass content in percentage
ADVANTAGES

• Variation of strength can be easily accomplished

in any portion of the structure with same basic
materials.
• The GRP materials has high strength to weight
ratio as comparing to steels.
• GRP hulls are having lower maintenance cost as
comparing to steel and aluminum.
• They are having more life than steel boats.
DRAWBACKS

• Maintenance is difficult.
• Deflection is very much higher than steel
for the same load.
• Abandonment is difficult.
• Less fire resistant.
• Welding technology cannot be applied
• Cannot be applied for large Ships
REFERENCES

• ‘Ship Design and construction’ by Robert

Taggart.
• http://en.wikipedia.org
• http://www.science.org.au
• http://www.esnips.com
• 3D Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites
L. Tong, A.P. Mouritz and M.K. Bannister
THANK YOU