Composite materials

Abstract

The chapter deals with composite materials, an area of growing importance. It begins with considerations of material selection and illustrates the fact that single natural and man-made materials are not always capable of meeting our design requirements, and therefore opening the way for composites to be used. The chapter explores the theory of composites made for reasons of thermal insulation and explains the various types and geometries of composites. Many composites are made in order to achieve a particular and desirable set of mechanical or structural properties. The materials used in construction are, almost invariably, much lower-value materials than those used in aerospace. Composite materials acquire a kind of ductility. It is not true ductility, but the composite will strain to a higher value than the failure strain. Some purists would argue that metal alloys could be seen as composite materials, but such an argument assumes a familiarity with phase equilibria and the theory of solute hardening.