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By Definition
com·pos· ite (pronounced: km-pzt) noun (name
of a thing) By Example
How Many Types of Composites Are There? Types of composites include:
How Are Composites Made?
What Are Synthetic Polymer Resins? Synthetic polymer resins are classified as either thermoplastic or thermosetting, depending on how they react when subjected to heat. According to David Cripps in Resin Types, "Thermoplastics, like metals, soften with heating and eventually melt, hardening again with cooling." Thermosets, on the other hand, "undergo a non-reversible chemical reaction to form a hard, infusible product" which will not re-liquefy if heated. Whether thermoplastic (nylon, polypropylene, ABS) or thermoset (phenolic, polyester, epoxy), the crystalline resin matrix binds together at the molecular level somewhat like a weld. Adding reinforcement fibers gives the matrix greater durability, wear-resistance and strength.
Engineered composites are the result of carefully mixing specific polymer resins with specific fiber-reinforcements to maximize the useful properties and minimize the weaknesses of the ingredients from which they are made.
In today's engineered composites, as is common in the manufacture of things like automobile bodies, boat hulls, dentures and industrial I-beams, the matrix may be either thermoset or thermoplastic while the fibers used are typically glass, carbon, silicon carbide, or asbestos. Other engineered composites blend wood fibers or flakes in a concrete hybrid matrix and ceramic silicon carbide with a matrix of titanium metal. Whether organic or synthetic in nature, however, all composites derive their functional superiority from the synergistic bonds formed in their polymer matrix. And of the many materials produced as composites, fiber-reinforced-polymer (commonly FRP) materials have become the darlings of today's marketplace.
What Are Fiber-Reinforced Polymers? Setting new performance standards, ideals and expectations in the automotive, infrastructure (wind turbines, building products), aerospace, defense, marine and recreational products industries, FRP composites incorporate glass or carbon fibers with fabrics like Kevlar in a polymeric resin matrix. Proprietary blends of resins and fibers merge to create super-composites with exceptional strength, extreme durability, low weight, and high fracture resistance.
Impervious to heat, cold, moisture,
radiation, and corrosive chemicals, everything from stealth bombers and
wastewater treatment plants to hockey sticks, bridges and oil rigs is now
being manufactured with super- composite materials. The wings and fuselage
of the new Boeing 787 are made largely of composites. Solar panel
substrates, spacecraft yokes and antenna
What Effect Are Super-Composites Having on Society? Indeed, today's super-composites have come a very long way from their mud-brick heritage. Through the magic of synergistic chemical polymerization, state-of-the-art engineered composites combine high-tech polyester or epoxy resins with activators and accelerators to incite thermal-dynamic 'melding events' at the molecular level. Glass or carbon reinforcement fibers are fused within this resin matrix, creating dynamically sophisticated materials that are completely new and unique. Still, mud bricks were the 'high technology' of ancestral communities. And just as the advent of bricks and mortar brought about advancements in architectural designs and infrastructure engineering, so too does state-of-the-art composite technology hold the potential to radically influence the norms of everyday culture and re-revolutionize civilized life. ~~~ See also: Fiberglass/Composite Repair |
Composites
are a unique class of materials which demonstrate the distinction of being
greater than the sum of their parts. Essentially, any material made from a
mixture of at least two different ingredients that results in a substance
which is stronger or more durable than what was used to create it is a
composite. Mud-and-straw bricks, concrete (a mixture of cement, aggregate
and water), plywood and plastics (like the dentures at right) are all
types of composites. 
What
Are Engineered Composites?
reflectors
are made with carbon composites. Biocompatible composites offer medicine a
new approach for the treatment of infectious wounds. And multifunctional
carbon nanotube composite fibers are setting the stage for another round
of breakthrough technology.