Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology

Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 01

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 ME 4037 Composite Materials
Course Outline

•Title: Composite Materials

•Code: ME 4037
•Credit hours: 3.0 (Three)
•Level: Level 4, Term 1
•Faculty: Engineering
•Department: Mechanical and Production Engineering (MPE)
•Programme: Mechanical Engineering (ME)
•Synopsis from the Approved Curriculum:
Fibrous composites; Reinforcement types; Ply stiffness; Ply strength; Failure criteria;
Layered laminate; Laminate stiffness; Laminate strength; Residual stress; Thin-walled
composite sections; Interlaminar stresses; Hole in laminates; Buckling of laminates.
•Type of course: Elective
•Prerequisite(s): N/A

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 ME 4037 Composite Materials
Reference Book

1. Autar K. Kaw, Mechanics of Composite Materials,

2nd Edition, CRC press, 2006. (Required).
2. 2. Ronald F. Gibson, Principles of Composite
Material Mechanics, Fourth Edition, CRC Press
3. P.K. Mallick, Fiber Reinforced Composites:
Materials, Manufacturing and Design, 3rd Edition,
CRC press, 2007.

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 ME 4037 Composite Materials
Course Outline

Percentages of Assessment Methods:

Method Percentage
Class Performance 10
Quizzes (best 3 out of 4) 20
Final Examination 70

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 ME 4037 Composite Materials

Course Outcome

Sl. COs POs Bloom’s

No. Taxonomy
C A P
1 Comprehend the criteria of composite material 7 2
manufacturing process
2 Apply techniques to identify the physical 2 3
configurations of a lamina for different combinations
3 Analyze macro mechanical behavior of a lamina. 6 4
4 Evaluate the failure criteria and micro mechanical 5 5
behavior of composite lamina.
5 Design of laminate systems 3 6

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 ME 4037 Composite Materials
Topic No. of Schedule of
Classes Quizzes or
Class Tests
Fibrous composites: Introduction to composite
materials, advantages and disadvantages of
5
composite materials, application of composite
materials Quiz 1
Reinforcement types: Characteristics of different
types of fibers and matrices and their 5
manufacturing processes
Ply strength and stiffness 9

Failure criteria:

i. Maximum stress failure theory Quiz 2

3
ii. Maximum strain failure theory

Distorsion energy theory

Layered laminate, laminate stiffness, laminate
strength, residual stress, micro mechanical 12 Quiz 3
behaviour
Thin-walled composite sections, Interlaminar
4
stresses
Quiz 4
Hole in laminates, Buckling of laminates, design of
3
laminates
Total number of classes 39
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 ME 4037 Composite Materials
Course Outline

Percentages of Assessment Methods:

Method Percentage
Class Performance 10
Quizzes (best 3 out of 4) 20
Final Examination 70

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Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 02

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 What is composite materials?

• Composite materials (or Composites)

are combination of two or more
materials which have quite different
mechanical properties and which
remain separate and distinct within the Fiber
finished structure.
• The different materials work together to Matrix
give the composite unique properties,
but within the composite they do not
dissolve or blend into each other. Fig. Fiber reinforced matrix

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 What is composite materials?

Matrix Fiber Fiber

(a) (b)

Fig. Fiber reinforced composites: (a) Cross sectional view, (b)

longitudinal sectional view .
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 What is composite materials?
• Fiber reinforced composites have two components- fiber and matrix.
Fiber is usually stiff whereas matrix is weaker.
• Function of the fiber is to reinforce the matrix whereas that of matrix
is to bind the fiber together, protect the fiber from environmental
effects, transfer the load to fibers, shielding from damage due to
handling.
• Individual constituents i.e., rod and concrete in RCC (reinforced
cement concrete) column can not serve the function by themselves
but do when put together.

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 Examples

• The most primitive

composite materials
were straw and mud
combined to form
bricks for building
construction.
• Reinforced concrete
column, (RCC).

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 Examples
• Nature is also full with composite materials. For example,
wood and bone are some sort of composite materials.
• Wood = lignin (matrix) + cellulose (fiber)
• Bone = Minerals (matrix) + collagen (fiber)

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 Advanced Composite
• Advanced composites are composite materials that
are traditionally used in aerospace industries.
• Have high performance reinforcements of thin
diameter in a matrix material.
• Generally characterized by unusually high strength
fibers with unusually high stiffness, or modulus of
elasticity characteristics, compared to other
materials, while bound together by weaker
matrices.
• Examples are graphite/ epoxy, Kevlar/ epoxy,
boron/ aluminum etc.

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 Hybrid Composite
• Hybrid composite contains more than one fiber
or one matrix system in a composite laminate.
• Examples: Combination of glass/epoxy layer
and graphite/epoxy layer used in car bumper,
fiber/metal/epoxy hybrid composite for aircraft
structures.

• Interply hybrid laminates contain plies made of

two or more different composite systems.
Examples include car bumpers made of
glass/epoxy layers to provide torsional rigidity
and graphite/epoxy to give stiffness. The
combinations also lower the cost of the bumper.

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 Hybrid Composite

• Intraply hybrid composites consist of two or more different

fibers used in the same ply. Examples include golf clubs that
use graphite and aramid fibers. Graphite fibers provide the
torsional rigidity and the aramid fibers provide tensile strength
and toughness.
• An interply–intraply hybrid consists of plies that have two or
more different fibers in the same ply and distinct composite
systems in more than one ply.
• Resin hybrid laminates combine two or more resins instead of
combining two or more fibers in a laminate. Generally, one
resin is flexible and the other one is rigid. Tests have proven
that these resin hybrid laminates can increase shear and work of
fracture properties by more than 50% over those of all-flexible
or all-rigid resins.

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 Composite vs Alloy

• Alloy and composite materials are mixtures of two

or more components.
• Both have different properties than the starting
materials
• In alloy, constituent materials are soluble in each
other whereas in composites they are not soluble.
• There are distinct phases of materials in composites.
• There is at least one metal in alloy, but it is not
necessary to have metals in composite.

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 Stress-Strain diagram: Composite Materials

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Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 03

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 Why Choose Composite?
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.

• 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 coefficient of thermal
expansion‡ thus are low and may be of the order
of ±1 × 10–7 in./in./°F (±1.8 × 10–7 m/m/°C).
• Monolithic materials cannot meet these
requirements
• This leaves composites, such as graphite/epoxy, Fig: Constellation-X mission
as the only materials to satisfy them.

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 Why Choose Composite?
• In highly competitive airline market, race to find ways to
lower the overall mass of the aircraft without decreasing
the stiffness and strength of its components.
• Even if the composite material costs may be higher, the
reduction in the number of parts in an assembly and the
savings in fuel costs make them more profitable.
• Reducing 1 lbm (0.453 kg) of mass in a commercial
aircraft can save up to 360 gal (1360 l) of fuel per year.
Fuel expenses are 25% of the total operating costs of a
commercial airline.
• Composites offer several other advantages over
conventional materials such as strength, stiffness, fatigue
and impact resistance, thermal conductivity, corrosion
resistance etc.

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?
For example, the axial deflection, u, of a prismatic rod under an axial load, P, is given by
A

P P

P P

21 L u
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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?
For example, the axial deflection, u, of a prismatic rod under an axial load, P, is given by
𝑃 𝑢
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝜎 = 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝜀 =
𝐴 𝐿
P P
𝜎=E𝜀
𝑃 𝑢 L u
⇒ =E
𝐴 𝐿
L = length of the rod
𝑃𝐿 E = Young’s modulus of elasticity of the material of the rod
⇒ 𝑢= ρ = density of the material of the rod, we have
𝐴𝐸 A= Cross sectional Area of the rod
𝑃𝐿 u = Deflection of rod
⇒ 𝐴=
𝑢𝐸

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?
For example, the axial deflection, u, of a prismatic rod under an axial load, P, is given by

Because the mass, M, of the rod is given by

𝑀 = 𝜌𝐴𝐿 P P
𝑃𝐿
⇒𝑀=𝜌 𝐿 L u
𝑢𝐸
L = length of the rod
𝑃𝐿2 E = Young’s modulus of elasticity of the material of the rod
⇒𝑀=𝜌 ρ = density of the material of the rod, we have
𝑢𝐸 A= Cross sectional Area of the rod
u = Deflection of rod
𝑃𝐿2 1
⇒𝑀=
𝑢 𝐸
21 𝜌
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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?
• This implies that the lightest beam for specified deflection under a
specified load is one with the highest (E/ρ) value.
• Thus, to measure the mechanical advantage, the (E/ρ) ratio is calculated
and is called the specific modulus (ratio between the Young’s modulus
(E) and the density (ρ) of the material).
𝑃𝐿2 1 • The other parameter is called the specific strength and is defined as the
𝑀= ratio between the strength (σult) and the density of the material (ρ), that
𝑢 𝐸 is,
𝜌
𝐸
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 =
𝜌
𝜎𝑢𝑙𝑡
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑠 =
𝜌

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?
• For example, the strength of a graphite/epoxy unidirectional
composite could be the same as steel, but the specific strength is
three times that of steel.
• Take the simple case of a rod designed to take a fixed 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. This reduction in mass translates to reduced material
and energy costs.
• Figure 1.1 shows how composites and fibers rate with other
traditional materials in terms of specific strength.

𝐸
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 =
𝑃𝐿2 1 𝜌𝑔
𝑀=
𝑢 𝐸
𝜌 𝜎𝑢𝑙𝑡
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑠 =
𝜌𝑔
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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?

• On a first look, fibers such as graphite,

aramid, and glass have a specific modulus
several times that of metals, such as steel
and aluminum.
• This gives a false impression about the
mechanical advantages of composites
because they are made not only of fibers,
but also of fibers and matrix combined
matrices generally have lower modulus
and strength than fibers.
• Is the comparison of the specific modulus
and specific strength parameters of
unidirectional composites to metals now
fair? The answer is no for two reasons.

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?

• First, unidirectional composite structures

are acceptable only for carrying simple
loads such as uniaxial tension or pure
bending. In structures with complex
requirements of loading and stiffness,
composite structures including angle plies
will be necessary.
• Second, the strengths and elastic moduli of
unidirectional composites given in Table
1.1 are those in the direction of the fiber.
The strength and elastic moduli
perpendicular to the fibers are far less.

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 How to measure mechanical advantages of
Composite Materials?

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 Are Specific Modulus and Specific Strength
enough?

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 Are Specific Modulus and Specific Strength
enough?
The Euler buckling formula gives the critical load at which a long column buckles as
Pcr = critical buckling load (lb or N)
P
𝜋 2 𝐸𝐼 E = Young’s modulus of column (lb/in.2 or N/m2)
𝑃𝑐𝑟 = I = second moment of area (in.4 or m4)
𝐿2 L = length of beam (in. or m)

If the column has a circular cross section, the second moment of area is

𝜋𝑑2 L
𝐼=
64
the mass of the rod is

𝜋𝑑 2 𝐿 M = mass of the beam (lb or kg)

M=ρ ρ = density of beam (lb/in.3 or kg/m3)
4 d = diameter of beam (in. or m) P
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 Are Specific Modulus and Specific Strength
enough?
Because the length, L, and the load, P, are constant, we find the mass of the beam
P
𝜋𝑑2 𝐿
M=ρ
4

2𝐿2 𝑃𝑐𝑟 1
⇒M= 1 L
𝜋
𝐸2
𝜌
This means that the lightest beam for specified stiffness is one with the highest
value of E1/2/ρ.

P
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 Are Specific Modulus and Specific Strength
enough?

• Similarly, we can prove that, for achieving the

minimum deflection in a beam under a load
along its length, the lightest beam is one with
the highest value of E1/3/ρ.
• Comparing these numbers with metals shows
composites drawing a better advantage for these
two parameters.

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 Other parameters to be considered

• Resistance to Fracture
• Fatigue
• Impact
• Creep

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Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 04

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 Disadvantages of Composite Materials

High cost of fabrication

• Part made of graphite/epoxy composite may cost up to

10 to 15 times the material costs.
• A finished graphite/epoxy composite part may cost as
much as $300 to $400 per pound ($650 to $900 per
kilogram).
• Improvements in processing and manufacturing
SMC (Sheet molding compound)
techniques will lower these costs in the future.
• Already, manufacturing techniques such as SMC (sheet
molding compound) and SRIM (structural
reinforcement injection molding) are lowering the cost
and production time in manufacturing automobile
parts.

RRIM (Reinforced reaction injection molding)

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37
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 Disadvantages of Composite Materials
Complex Mechanical Characterization

• Mechanical characterization of a composite structure is more complex than that of a metal

structure.
• Four parameters (i.e., E, G, , strength) for monolithic material but more for composite
materials
• 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 stiffness and strength constants for conducting
mechanical analysis.
• Such complexity makes structural analysis computationally and experimentally more
complicated and intensive.
• In addition, evaluation and measurement techniques of some composite properties, such as
compressive strengths, are still being debated.

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 Disadvantages of Composite Materials
Difficulties in repairing
• Difficulties in repairing.
• Repair of composites is not a simple process
compared to that for metals. Sometimes
critical flaws and cracks in composite
structures may go undetected.

Welding of metal Typical laminate and sandwich repairs

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 Disadvantages of Composite Materials
• Composites do not have high combination of strength and fracture
toughness/stress intensity factor (resistance against fracture, energy consumed
during fracture).
• In a material with a crack, the value of the stress intensity factor gives the
measure of stresses in the crack tip region. For example, for an infinite plate
with a crack of length, 2a under a uniaxial load σ (Figure 1.3), the stress
intensity factor is
𝐾 = 𝜎 𝜋𝑎

• If the stress intensity factor at the crack tip is greater than the critical stress
intensity factor of the material, the crack will grow.
• The greater the value of the critical stress intensity factor is, the tougher the
material is.
• The critical stress intensity factor is called the fracture toughness of the material.
• Typical values of fracture toughness are 23.66 ksi √in. (26 MPa√ m ) for
aluminum and 25.48 ksi √in. (28 MPa√ m ) for steel.
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 Disadvantages of Composite Materials
In Figure 1.4, a plot is shown for fracture toughness vs. yield strength for a 1-in. (25-mm) thick material.
Metals show an excellent combination of strength and fracture toughness compared to composites. (Note:
The transition areas in Figure 1.4 will change with change in the thickness of the specimen.)

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 Disadvantages of Composite Materials
• Composites do not necessarily give higher
performance in all the properties used for material
selection.
• In Figure 1.5, six primary material selection
parameters — strength, toughness, formability,
joinability, corrosion resistance, and affordability —
are plotted.
• If the values at the circumference are considered as
the normalized required property level for a
particular application, the shaded areas show values
provided by ceramics, metals, and metal–ceramic
composites.
• Clearly, composites show better strength than metals,
but lower values for other material selection
parameters.
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 Characteristics of Composite Materials
• High Specific Strength (strength/density)
• High Specific Stiffness (stiffness/density)
• Low density
• Unique combination of properties
• Corrosion resistance
• Wear resistance
• Fatigue resistance
• Creep resistance
• Electrically and thermally non-conductive
• Design flexibility by
• Choosing fibers
• Varying resin formulation
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 Fiber in Composite

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 Fiber in Composite

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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?

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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?
Difference in Actual vs Theoretical Strength

• Actual strength of materials is several magnitudes

lower than the theoretical strength. This difference is
due to the inherent flaws in the material. Removing
these flaws can increase the strength of the material.
• As the fibers become smaller in diameter, the chances
of an inherent flaw in the material are reduced.
• 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).
• Figure 1.6 shows how the strength of a carbon fiber
increases with the decrease in its diameter.

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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?
Ductility/toughness and tansfer of load vs surface area
For higher ductility and toughness, and better transfer of loads from the matrix to fiber, composites
require larger surface area of the fiber–matrix interface.
1
𝐹𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 − 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 ∝
𝐹𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝑖𝑎

Assume a lamina consisting of N fibers of diameter D. The fiber–matrix interface area in this lamina is
𝐴𝐼 = 𝑁𝜋𝐷𝐿
If one replaces the fibers of diameter, D, by fibers of diameter, d, then the number of fibers, n, to keep
the fiber volume the same would be-
𝜋𝑑 2 𝜋𝐷 2
𝑛 𝐿=𝑁 𝐿
4 4
2
𝐷
⇒𝑛=𝑁
21 𝑑
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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?
Ductility/toughness and tansfer of load vs surface area

Then, the fiber–matrix interface area in the resulting lamina would be

𝐴𝐼𝐼 = 𝑛𝜋𝑑𝐿
2
𝐷
⇒ 𝐴𝐼𝐼 = 𝑁 𝜋𝑑𝐿
𝑑
𝑁𝜋𝐷 2 𝐿
⇒ 𝐴𝐼𝐼 =
𝑑
4 𝜋𝐷 2 𝐿
⇒ 𝐴𝐼𝐼 = ∙ 𝑁
𝑑 4
4
⇒ 𝐴𝐼𝐼 = ∙ 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟
𝑑
1
⇒ 𝐴𝐼𝐼 ∝
21 𝑑
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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?
Flexibility

• 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 fiber diameter and is measured as flexibility.
• Flexibility is defined as the inverse of bending stiffness and is proportional to the inverse of
the product of the elastic modulus of the fiber and the fourth power of its diameter.
• Bending stiffness is the resistance to bending moments. According to the Strength of
Materials course, if a beam is subjected to a pure bending moment, M

v = deflection of the centroidal line (in. or m)

𝑑2 𝑣 𝑀 E = Young’s modulus of the beam (psi or Pa)
= I = second moment of area (in.4 or m4)
𝑑𝑥 2 𝐸𝐼 x = coordinate along the length of beam (in. or m)

⇒ 𝐸𝐼 = 𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠

𝜋𝑑 4
21
2𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎, 𝐼 =
Decembe
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 Fiber in Composite: Why so thin?
Flexibility
The bending stiffness, then, is EI and the flexibility is simply the inverse of EI. Because the second
moment of area of a cylindrical beam of diameter d is
1
𝐹𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝐸𝐼
1
⇒ 𝐹𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝜋𝑑 4
𝐸 ∙ 64
64
⇒ 𝐹𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝐸 ∙ 𝜋𝑑 4
For a particular material, unlike strength, the Young’s modulus, E does not change appreciably as a
function of its diameter. Therefore, the flexibility for a particular material is inversely proportional to
the fourth power of the diameter.
1
⇒ 𝐹𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 ∝
𝑑4

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Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 05

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 Which factors influence the performance of
composites
• Fiber factors: material, length, diameter, orientation, shape.
• Matrix factors: transverse modulus and strength, shear modulus and
strength, compressive strength, thermal expansion coefficient,
thermal resistance, fatigue strength etc.
• Interface factors: In composites, load from the matrix to fiber is
transferred through the interface. Therefore the strength of the
interface significantly influence the strength of the composite.

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 Fiber factors
• Material:
• Fibers are generally expected to have high elastic moduli and strengths.
• This expectation and cost have been key factors in the graphite, aramids, and glass dominating the fiber
market for composites.
• Length:
• Long, continuous fibers are easy to orient and process
• Short fibers cannot be controlled fully for proper orientation.
• Long fibers provides: impact resistance, low shrinkage, improved surface finish, and dimensional stability.
• Short fibers: low cost, easy to work with, fast cycle time fabrication procedures.
• Short fibers have fewer flaws and therefore have higher strength.
• Orientation:
• Fibers oriented in one direction give very high stiffness and strength in that direction.
• Shape:
• The most common shape of fibers is circular.
• Hexagon and square-shaped fibers are possible, but their advantages of strength and high packing factors
do not outweigh the difficulty in handling and processing.

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 Matrix factors
• Use of fibers by themselves is limited, with the exceptions of ropes and
cables. Therefore, fibers are used as reinforcement to matrices.
• The matrix functions include binding the fibers together, protecting fibers
from the environment, shielding from damage due to handling, and
distributing the load to fibers.
• Although matrices by themselves generally have low mechanical properties
compared to those of fibers, the matrix influences many mechanical
properties of the composite such as-
• Transverse modulus and strength
• Shear modulus and strength
• Compressive strength
• Interlaminar shear strength
• Thermal expansion coefficient
• Thermal resistance, and Fatigue strength.

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 Interface
• The region between fiber and matrix is called interface.
• It determines how well the matrix transfers the load to the fibers.
• Chemical, mechanical and reaction bonding may form the interface.
• In most cases, more than one type of bonding occurs.
• Chemical bonding is formed between the fiber surface and the matrix.
Some fibers bond naturally to the matrix and others do not. Coupling agents
are often added to form a chemical bond.

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Chemical bonding
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 Interface

• The natural roughness or etching of the fiber surface causing inter-locking

may form a mechanical bond between the fiber and matrix.
• If the thermal expansion coefficient of the matrix is higher than that of the
fiber, and the manufacturing temperatures are higher than the operating
temperature, the matrix will radially shrink more than the fiber. This causes
the matrix to compress around the fiber.

Chemical bonding

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 Interface
• Reaction bonding occurs when atoms or molecules of the fiber and the
matrix diffuse into each other at the interface.
• This interdiffusion often creates a distinct interfacial layer, called interphase,
with different properties from that of the fiber or the matrix.
• Although this thin interfacial layer helps to form a bond, it also forms micro-
cracks in the fiber.
• These microcracks reduce the strength of the fiber and thus that of the
composite.

Reaction bonding

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 Interface factors

• Weak or cracked interfaces can

cause failure in composites and
reduce the properties influenced
by the matrix.
• They also allow environmental
hazards such as hot gases and
moisture to attack the fibers.

Figure 1. Basic modes of crack development in

composites: (a) matrix, (b) fiber–matrix interface, (c)
21 interlaminar, and (d) fiber.
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 Interface factors

• Although a strong bond is a requirement in

transferring loads from the matrix to the
fiber, weak debonding of the fiber–matrix
interface is used advantageously in ceramic
matrix composites.
• Weak interfaces blunt matrix cracks and
deflect them along the interface. This is the
main source of improving toughness of
such composites up to five times that of the
monolithic ceramics.

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 Classification of Composites
Based on geometry of the reinforcement:
• Particulate composites
• Flake composites
• Fiber composites

Particulate composites
• Consist of particles immersed in matrices such
as alloys and ceramics.
• They are usually isotropic because the particles are
added randomly.
• Particulate composites have advantages such as
improved strength, increased operating temperature,
oxidation resistance, etc.
• Examples: aluminum particles in rubber; silicon
carbide particles in aluminum; and gravel, sand, and
cement to make concrete.
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 Classification of Composites
Based on geometry of the reinforcement:
• Particulate composites
• Flake composites
• Fiber composites

Flake composites
• Consist of flat reinforcements of matrices.
• Typical flake materials are glass, mica, aluminum, and
silver. Flake composites provide advantages such as high
out-of-plane flexural modulus, higher strength, and low
cost.
• However, flakes cannot be oriented easily.
• Only a limited number of materials are available for use.

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 Classification of Composites
Based on geometry of the reinforcement:
• Particulate composites
• Flake composites
• Fiber composites

Fiber composites
• Consist of matrices reinforced by short (discontinuous) or
long (continuous) fibers.
• Fibers are generally anisotropic and examples include
carbon and aramids.
• Examples of matrices are resins such as epoxy, metals
such as aluminum, and ceramics such as calcium–alumino
silicate.
• The fundamental units of continuous fiber matrix
composite are unidirectional or woven fiber laminas.
• Laminas are stacked on top of each other at various angles
to form a multidirectional laminate.
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 Classification of Composites
Different types fibrous composites

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 Classification of Composites
Based on the size of the reinforcement
1. Macro-composite (10-2 m)
2. Micro-composite(10-6 m)
3. Nano-composite(10-9 m)
• Nanocomposites consist of materials that are of the scale of nanometers (10–9 m).
• The accepted range to be classified as a nanocomposite is that one of the constituents is less than 100 nm.
• At this scale, the properties of materials are different 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
films show improvement in properties such as elastic modulus, and transmission rates for water vapor,
heat distortion, and oxygen.
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 Classification of Composites
Bio-composite

• A bio-composite is a material formed by a

matrix (resin) and a naturally produced
(usually derived from plants) reinforcing
element.
• Has wide-ranging uses from environment-
friendly biodegradable composites to
biomedical composites for drug/gene
delivery, tissue engineering applications
and cosmetic orthodontics.

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 Types of Composite
Bio-composite

Bio-composites are characterized by the fact

that:
• The petrochemical resin is replaced by
a vegetable or animal resin
(polylactide )
• Conventional fiber like glass fibers,
carbon fibers are replaced by natural
fiber like jute, wood, coir, hemp.
• Due to biodegradable characteristics,
environmental friendly disposal of
such composites is possible.

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 Fibers and Matrix

21-Dec-24 68
 Fibers
• Fibres are the principal constituent in a composite material
• Occupy largest volume fraction in a composite laminate
• Share the major portion of the load on a composite structure

Relative importance in a historical context

• Old Testament records the first example of fibrous composites, straw-reinforced clay bricks
• Wood consists of fibrous cellulose in a matrix of lignin
• Natives of South and Central America used fibre in their pottery
• Much later, steel-reinforced concrete became one of the most widely used structures
Fibers – affecting the characteristics of composite
• Specific gravity
• Tensile strength and modulus
• Compressive strength and modulus
• Fatigue strength and fatigue failure mechanism v Impact resistance
• Electrical and thermal conductivities
• Cost
21-Dec-24 69
 Fibers
Determination of strength and stiffness of fibre

• Usually follow ASTM D3379.

• A special slotted tab is used to hold the filament.
• The filament is aligned with the slot and bonded
with the surface by using any kind of cement or
wax.
• The tab is then gripped by the machine and the
edges of the tab is cut
• Once loaded, the machine generates load-
displacement curves

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Ahsanllullah University of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

ME 4037
Composite Materials
Lecture 06

Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Associate Professor, MPE

 Fibers
Different types of fibres

• Glass
• Carbon
• Graphite
• Kevlar
• Ceramic
• Boron
• Carbon nanotube
• Natural Fibres – Jute, Silk, Cotton etc.

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 Fibers
Stress-Strain Diagrams of Various Fibres

• Low failure strain

• Brittle failure mode
• Absence of any yielding

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 Polymer Matrix Composite

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 Polymer Matrix Composites

• The most common advanced composites.

• Commonly used polymers are Polyester,
Epoxy, Vinyl Ester, Polyamide,
Bismaleimide etc.
• Most commonly used fibers in polymer
matrix composite are glass, graphite,
Kevlar etc.

21-Dec-24 75
 Polymer Matrix Composites

Advantages Disadvantages
• Good in-plane strength and stiffness • Low temperature capability
• Low density • Epoxy- To 250°F
• Ease of fabrication • Bismalemide- To 400°F
• Relatively low cost • Polyimide- To 550°
• Corrosion resistance • Moisture sensitive
• Fatigue resistance • Outgassing (moisture and organics)
• Low coefficient of thermal expansion • Low through-thickness strength and stiffness
• Electrically and thermally conductive and • Low transverse strength and stiffness for
nonconductive materials unidirectional composites
• Creep and creep fracture resistance • Thermoset resins have poor impact
• Relatively mature technology resistance
• Excellent in-service experience • Required special processing equipment

21-Dec-24 76
 Polymer Matrix Composites
Pultrusion
• Fibres are pulled from a set of fibre reels and
through a resin bath.
• They then pass through a performer, which
aligns the fibres into the required cross-
sectional shape.
• The forming and curing dies finalise the
shape of the composite, remove any excess
resin and cure the composite so that it can be
cut into sections of the necessary length by
the cut-off saw.
• This technique is suitable for high volume,
continuous production, and is able to produce Fig: Pultrusion Process
parts with high fibre density and good resin
dispersion.

21-Dec-24 77
 Fibers
• The most common fibers used are glass, graphite, and Kevlar.
• Typical properties of these fibers compared with bulk steel and aluminum are given in Table 1.5

21-Dec-24 78
 Glass Fiber

• Two Types glass fibres are mostly used

• E-glass
• Lowest Cost
• “E” stands for electrical, because it was originally designed for electrical applications
• S-glass-Intermediate cost, a lower cost version is S-2 glass
• “S” stands for higher amount of silica and high strength and thus applied where high strength is required
• It retains strength at high temperature compared to E-glass and has higher fatigue strength

Composition

Components SiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO B2O3 Na2O

E-glass 54.5 14.5 17 4.5 8.5 0.5
S-glass 64 26 - 10 - -

21-Dec-24 79
 Glass Fiber
Manufacturing
• Ingredients are dry mixed and melted in refractory furnace at 1370 C.
• Molten glass is extruded through orifices, and drawn into filaments.
• Approximately 10 μm diameter.
• A protective coating (sizing) is then applied to individual filament.
• Filaments are then drawn into strands and wound on a collet.
• Wound array of strands is then removed and dried in an oven to remove
any water or sizing solution.
• It can be then converted into several forms.

21-Dec-24 80
 Glass Fiber
Sizing
The sizing is a mixture of lubricants(prevent abrasion between the filaments), antistatic agents (reduce
friction between the filaments), binder (packs the filaments together into a strand) and a coupling agent

Commercial forms of glass fibres

• Strands: A collection of parallel filaments numbering 200 or more
• Roving: Group of untwisted parallel strands
• Woven: Rovings put together in weave structures

21-Dec-24 81
 Glass Fiber

Advantages
• Low Cost
• High strength
• Good impact properties
• High Chemical Resistance
• Excellent insulating properties
Disadvantages
• Low modulus
• Relatively low fatigue resistance
• Relatively higher specific gravity
• Sensitive to abrasive and handling
• High hardness which causes excessive wear on
moulding dies and cutting tools
21-Dec-24 82
 Carbon/Graphite Fiber
• Contains a blend of amorphous carbon and graphitic carbon.
• Carbon atoms are arranged in crystallographically parallel
planes of regular hexagons.
• The planes are held together by weak van der wals type forces,
while strong covalent bond exists between carbon atoms in a
plane.
• This gives rise to highly anisotropic physical and mechanical Carbon atoms in graphite crystal
properties of the fibre.
• Carbon fibres have relatively high modulus compared to E-
glass, S- glass, Kevlar.
• They are commercially available with a variety of tensile
moduli ranging from 207 GPa to 1035 GPa.
• In general, the low-modulus fibres have lower specific
gravities, lower cost, higher tensile and compressive strengths,
and higher tensile failure strain than high-modulus fibre.

21-Dec-24 83
 Carbon
Carbon Fiber
Manufacturing Manufacturing
• Carbon fibres are manufactured from synthetic fibres
through heating and stretching treatments.
• Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and pitch are the two most
common raw products used to produce carbon fibres.
• PAN is a synthetic fibre that is pre-manufactured and
wound onto spools, and pitch is a coal-tar petroleum
product that is melted, spun, and stretched into fibres.
• First, in the thermoset treatment, the fibres are stretched
and heated to no more than 400° C. This step cross-
links carbon chains so that the fibres will not melt in
subsequent treatments.
• Second, in the carbonize treatment, the fibres are
heated to about 800°C in an oxygen free environment.
This step removes non- carbon impurities.

21-Dec-24 84
 Carbon Fi

Carbon Fiber Manufacturing

•
• Third, the fibres are graphitized; this step stretches the
fibres between 50 to 100% elongation, and heats them to
temperatures ranging from 1100°C to 3000°C. The
stretching ensures a preferred crystalline orientation which
results in the desired Young’s modulus around 300-600
GPa.
• Finally, the last two treatment steps, surface treatment and •
epoxy sizing, are preformed to enhance the carbon fibre /
epoxy bonding strength. Several different methods can be
used in these last steps.
Carbon vs. Graphite Fibre
• Carbon fibres have 93 to 95% carbon content, but graphite has more than 99% carbon content
• Carbon fibres are produced at 2400°F (1316°C), and graphite fibres are typically produced in excess
of 3400°F (1900°C)

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 Kevlar Fiber

Manufacturing
• An acidic solution of a proprietary precursor
is extruded from a spinneret.
• During the drawing process, Kevlar 49
molecules become highly oriented along the
filament axis. poly para-phenylene terephthalamide

• The Kevlar fibre then passes through a

cooling bath to help it harden. After being
sprayed with water, the synthetic fibre is
wound onto rolls.
• The filament is highly anisotropic because of
weak hydrogen bonds between hydrogen and
oxygen atoms in the transverse direction.

21-Dec-24 86
 Kevlar Fiber
Made from highly crystalline aramid (aromatic polyamide) fibres
Advantages
• Highly resistant to impact damage
• High specific tensile strength
• Very low/negative thermal expansion coefficient in the longitudinal direction
• Excellent toughness and ductility Very low specific gravity
Disadvantages
• Very low compressive strength
• Relatively expensive
• Difficult to cut or machine
• Fibers are hygroscopic – absorb moisture and humidity
• Molecular structure of Kevlar: bold represents a monomer unit,
dashed lines indicate hydrogen bonds.
• The molecular structure contains in the repeating units - amide (-NH)
group and aromatic ring.
• The aromatic ring gives it higher chain stiffness as well as better
chemical and thermal stability.
21-Dec-24 87
 Metal Matrix Composites

• Mainly used to provide advantages over monolithic

metals such as steel and aluminium.
• Commonly used metals are Aluminium, Titanium,
Magnesium, Copper, Nickel, Lead, Silver etc.
• Most commonly used fibres in metal matrix composite
are carbon, silicon carbide, boron carbide, alumina
etc.
Ceramic reinforced Aluminium conductor

21-Dec-24 88
 Metal Matrix Composites

Advantages Disadvantages-
• High axial strength and modulus. • Some fabrication processes are
• High transverse and through-thickness complex and expensive
strength and modulus • Some reinforcing fibres are expensive
• Wear resistances. • Fibre-matrix interactions at high
• Some reinforcing fibres are inexpensive temperature degrade fibres
• Casting is a low-cost, net-shaped process • Machining difficult
• Higher temperature capability than PMC • Reinforcing material may reduce
• Not moisture sensitive (except for ductility and fracture toughness
corrosion)
• Low coefficient for thermal expansion
• High thermal conductivity
• High electrical conductivity

21-Dec-24 89
 Metal Matrix Composites

Manufacturing process-
• One of the methods is diffusion bonding, which is used in
manufacturing boron/aluminium composite parts
• A fibre mat of boron is placed between two thin aluminium foil
of about 0.05 mm thick
• A polymer binder or an acrylic adhesive holds the fibres together
in the mat
• Layers of these metal foils are stacked at angles as required by
the design
• The laminate is first heated in a vacuum bag to remove the binder
• The laminate is then hot pressed with a temperature of about
500°C and pressed about 35 MPa in a die to form the required
machine element

21-Dec-24 90
 Ceramic Matrix Composites
• Mainly used where high mechanical properties and extreme service
temperatures are desired.
• Commonly used ceramics are Glass, Carbon, Silicon Carbide,
Silicon Nitride, Alumina, Mullite, Portland cement etc.
• Most commonly used fibres in ceramic matrix composites are
Graphite, Alumina, Silicon carbide etc.

Advantages- Disadvantages-
• High stiffness and strength • Complex process for high-
• Better hardness performance materials
• Can resist high service • Fibre-matrix interaction at high
temperature temperature degrades fibers
• Low density • Limited number of materials
• Better wear and corrosion available
resistance • Immature technology CMC rocket engine nozzle
• High fracture toughness • High cost

21-Dec-24 91
 Ceramic Matrix Composites

Manufacturing process
• Hot pressing is the most common manufacturing
method
• Glass fibre in continuous tow are passed through slurry
consisting of powdered matrix material, solvent such as
alcohol, and an organic binder
• The tow is then wound on a drum and dried to form
prepeg tapes
• The prepeg tapes then stacked to make required
laminate
• Heating at about 500°C burns out the binder
• Hot pressing at high temperature in excess of 1000°C
and pressure of 7 to 14 MPa follows this

21-Dec-24 92
 Ceramic and Boron Fiber
• Most extensively used in Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) and Metal Matrix
Composites (MMC).
• Boron fibres have extremely high tensile modulus (379-414 GPa), excellent resistance to
buckling (due to larger diameter).
• This buckling resistance contributes to high compressive strength for boron fibre-
reinforced composites.
• The principle disadvantage of boron fibre is its high cost. For this reason, its use is at
present restricted to aerospace applications. Ceramic fibre
• Ceramic fibres (Silicon carbide (SiC), Aluminium oxide (Al2O3)) are notable for their
high temperature applications in metal and ceramic matrix composites. Their melting
points are 2830 and 2045°C respectively. They can retain their strength at high
temperature where other fibres fail.
• These fibres are brittle.
• Conventional extrusion or spinning procedures are not used in making these fibres. Boron fibre
• The method used is known as Chemical Vapor Decomposition (CVD) Process.

21-Dec-24 93
 Ceramic and Boron Fiber
Ceramic & Boron Fibers (Contd..)
CVD Process
• A very fine heated tungsten filament CVD Process
is used as substrate, passing through a
Dia = 0.01 mm
sealed heated chamber or furnace. Tungsten
Filament

• Furnace temp. is 1100-1300°C. Bcl3

• Vaporized boron compound (BCl3) A very fine heated tungsten filam

B
used as substrate, passing thro
decomposes, and permits boron to sealed heated chamber or fu
precipitate onto the tungsten wire. Furnace temp. is 1100-1300OC.
• SiC fibres are also made in a similar Dia = 0.1-0.2 mm
Vaporized boron compound
manner, with carbon fibres as 2BCl 3 + 3H2 = 2B + 6HCl decomposes, and permits bo
precipitate onto the tungsten wir
substrate for the vapor decomposition Boron Fiber on
Tungsten Filament
of Silicon Carbide. SiC fibers are also made in a
manner, with carbon fibers as su
for the vapor decomposition of
Carbide.

21-Dec-24 94
 Carbon Nanotubes
• Carbon nanotube can be visualized as a sheet of graphite that has been rolled into a tube.
• It may be single-walled or multi-walled.

Modulus = 1000 GPa

Strength = 100 GPa

21-Dec-24 95
 Carbon Nanotubes

• Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-

diameter ratio of up to 1.32 x 108 :1, significantly
larger than for any other material.
• These cylindrical carbon molecules have unusual
properties, which are valuable for nanotechnology,
electronics, optics and other fields of materials
science and technology.
• In particular, owing to their extraordinary thermal
conductivity and mechanical and electrical properties,
carbon nanotubes find applications as additives to
various structural materials. A basic computer by CNT
• For instance, nanotubes form a tiny portion of the
material(s) in some (primarily carbon fibre) baseball
bats, golf clubs, car parts.

21-Dec-24 96
 Natural Fibers

21-Dec-24 97
 Jute Fibre
• A long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong
threads
• Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibres and is second only to cotton
in amount produced and variety of uses of vegetable fibres
• Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin
• Diameters are about 0.012-0.018 mm
• The ratio of length to dia is only 150 which is very low for a textile fibre
compared to 1000-2000 for wool, cotton, flax.
• Specific gravity is 1.48-1.5; specific heat is 0.324
• Very good insulator of heat and electricity
• Bound air within the fabric offers a great resistance to heat transfer
• Highly hygroscopic fibre, almost 35-40% of its dry weight under high
humidity
• Breaking elongation under normal atmospheric condition is 1-1.2%
• Stiffness is high at normal moisture content

21-Dec-24 98
 Key Abbreviations

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 Mechanics Terminology

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