Introduction to the course
Composite Materials and Mechanics
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
1/31/2013 1
MNIT Jaipur
Books
• Analysis and Performance of Fiber
Composites, Agarwal, B.D. and Broutman, L. J.,
John Wiley & Sons.
• Mechanics of Composite Materials, Jones, R.
M., Mc‐Graw Hill
• Engineering Mechanics of Composite
Materials, I. M. Daniel, O. Ishai, Oxford
University Press, 2006.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Syllabus
• Introduction to Composite Materials Constituents, Material forms
Processing, Applications Definition –Need – General Characteristics,
Applications. Fibers – Glass, Carbon, Ceramic and Aramid fibers. Matrices –
Polymer, Graphite, Ceramic and Metal Matrices – Characteristics of fibers
and matrices.
• Lamina Constitutive Equations: Lamina Assumptions – Macroscopic
Viewpoint. Generalized Hooke’s Law. Reduction to Homogeneous
Orthotropic Lamina – Isotropic limit case, Orthotropic Stiffness matrix (Qij),
Typical Commercial material properties, Rule of Mixtures. Generally
Orthotropic Lamina –Transformation Matrix, Transformed Stiffness.
• Definition of stress and Moment Resultants. Strain Displacement relations.
Basic Assumptions of Laminated anisotropic plates. Laminate Constitutive
Equations – Coupling Interactions, Balanced Laminates, Symmetric
Laminates, Angle Ply Laminates, Cross Ply Laminates. Laminate Structural
Moduli. Evaluation of Lamina Properties from Laminate Tests. Quasi‐
Isotropic Laminates. Determination of Lamina stresses within Laminates.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Syllabus (Cont…)
• Introduction ‐ Maximum Stress and Strain Criteria. Von‐Misses Yield
criterion for Isotropic Materials. Generalized Hill’s Criterion for
Anisotropic materials. Tsai‐Hill’s Failure Criterion for Composites.
Tensor Polynomial (Tsai‐Wu) Failure criterion. Prediction of laminate
Failure
• Equilibrium Equations of Motion. Energy Formulations. Static
Bending Analysis. Buckling Analysis. Free Vibrations – Natural
Frequencies
• Modification of Hooke’s Law due to thermal properties ‐
Modification of Laminate Constitutive Equations. Orthotropic
Lamina ‐ special Laminate Configurations – Unidirectional, Off‐axis,
Symmetric Balanced Laminates ‐ Zero C.T.E laminates, Thermally
Quasi‐Isotropic Laminates
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
What are “Composites”?
• The word composite means 'made up of distinct parts or
substances'.
– Israelites using bricks made of clay and reinforced with straw are an
early example of application of composites.
– Use of reinforcing mud walls in houses with bamboo shoots
• So, composite material is a material that consists of two or
more distinct constituent materials which are bound together
to yield an integral and useful unit.
• Being combinations of two or more phases at microscopic
scale most bulk engineering materials are composites.
– Because the strength and toughness of metallic alloys and engineering
plastics are achieved by combining high strength phases with tough
ductile phase, e.g., plain carbon steel (99.2% Fe and 0.8% C) have
alternate layer of ductile phase (pure iron) and a hard brittle
1/31/2013 compound, Fe3C called cementite
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
What are “Composites”? (Cont…)
• Relevant to engineering/ structural components,
composites are defined at macroscopic level, i.e., two or
more materials/phases, not soluble in each other,
combined together on a macroscopic scale to form a
useful third material.
• Examples:
– Natural Composites:
• Wood, where the lignin matrix is reinforced with cellulose fibers,.
• bones in which the bone‐salt plates made of calcium and phosphate
ions reinforce soft collagen
– Man‐made composites:
• Galvanized steel coated with a layer of Zinc
• Reinforced concrete beam consists of sand cement and water
• Fiber reinforced plastics
• Plywood: Several layers of wood glued together
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
What are “Composites”? (Cont…)
• Three phases of a composite:
– Reinforcement:
discontinuous, stiffer, and
stronger phase
– Matrix: continuous, less stiff
and weaker phase
– Interphase: between the
reinforcement and the
matrix.
• The properties of a
composite material depend
on the properties of the
constituents, their geometry,
and the distribution of the
phases.
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MNIT Jaipur
Structural Performance of
Conventional Materials
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Properties Improved by forming
Composites
• Specific Strength
• Specific Stiffness
• Fatigue life
• Corrosion resistance
• Weight
• Wear resistance
• Temperature dependent behavior
• Thermal Conductivity
• Environmental stability
• Thermal insulation and conductivity
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MNIT Jaipur
Where are composites used?
• Automotive industry: Lighter, stronger, wear
resistance, rust‐free, aesthetics
– Car body
– Brake pads
– Drive shafts
– Fuel tanks
– Exhaust Hoods
– Leaf springs
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Where are composites used? (Cont…)
• Aerospace: Lighter, stronger, temperature
resistance, smart structures, wear resistance,
dimensional stability under severe environment
– Aircrafts (such as The Boeing 777, New Boeing 787
“Dreamliner”, the Airbus A380): Nose,
doors, struts, fairings, fuselage, wings, outboard
and inboard flaps, stabilizer, elevators, rudders,
spoilers.
– Rockets & missiles: Nose, body, pressure tanks,
frame, fuel tanks, turbo‐motor stators, etc.
– Satellites: Antennae, frames, structural part
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Where are composites used? (Cont…)
• Sports: Lighter, stronger, toughness, better
aesthetics, higher damping properties
– Tennis
– Bicycles (e.g., frame made of carbon/epoxy composite
weigh 1.36 kg against 5 kg of the corresponding steel)
– Badminton
– Boats
– Hockey
– Golfing
– Motorcycles …
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Where are composites used? (Cont…)
• Transportation & Infrastructure: Lighter, strong
er, toughness, damping
– Railway coaches
– Reinforced structural members against earthquakes
– Bridges
– Ships and boats
– Dams
– Truck bodies and floors
– Pipes for oil and water transport
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Where are composites used? (Cont…)
• And many more industry sectors
– Biomedical industry e.g., artificial limb parts, foot , leg and
hip prostheses
– Consumer goods
– Agricultural equipment
– Heavy machinery
– Computers
– Healthcare
– Energy production field e.g., blades of wind turbine
generators
• So applications of composites are abound and continue
to expand
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Classification of Composites
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Classification of Composites (Cont…)
• Fibrous composite materials that consist of
fibers in a matrix.
• Particulate composite materials that are
composed of particles in a matrix.
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Fibrous Composite Materials
• Long fibers in various forms are inherently much stiffer and
stronger than the same material in bulk form due to the more
perfect structure of a fiber and fewer internal defects in fibers.
• Properties of Fibers:
– A fiber is characterized geometrically by its very high length‐
to‐diameter ratio and its near‐crystal‐sized diameter.
– Following four fiber factors contribute to the mechanical
performance of a composite
• Length, orientation, shape and material
– Length: The fibers can be long or short. Long, continuous
fibers are easy to orient and process; however, short fibers
provide low cost, are easy to work with and high strength
because of fewer flaws.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
– Orientation: Fibers oriented in one direction give very high
stiffness and strength in that direction.
– Shape: Circular fibers are more common than hexagon and
square shaped fibers because of easy manufacturing and
handling.
– Material: Directly influences the mechanical performance of a
composite and expected to have high elastic moduli and
strengths. This expectation and cost have been key factors in the
graphite (carbon), aramid (Kevlar), and glass dominating the
fiber market for composites.
• Properties of Whiskers:
– A whisker has essentially the same near‐crystal‐sized diameter
as a fiber, but generally is very short and stubby with d/l only
few hundreds.
– A whisker is even more perfect than a fiber and therefore
exhibits even higher properties
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Reinforcing Fibers
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
• Properties of Matrix:
– Fibers and whiskers are of little use unless they are
bounded together to take form of a structural element
that can carry load.
– 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.
– The matrix is of considerably lower density, stiffness, and
strength than the fibers/whiskers, but the matrix
influences many mechanical properties of the composite.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
• Properties of Matrix…..:
– These properties include transverse modulus and strength,
shear modulus and strength, compressive strength,
interlaminar shear strength, thermal expansion coefficient,
thermal resistance, and fatigue strength.
– Matrix materials can be polymers, metals, ceramics or
carbons.
• The three main classes of structural polymers are rubbers,
thermoplastics (e.g., nylon, polyethylene, and polysulfone, PEEK)
and thermosets (e.g., epoxies, phenolics, polyester and
polyimidies).
• Metal‐matrix composites (up to 8000C) consist of metals or alloys
(aluminum, magnesium, titanium, copper) reinforced with boron,
carbon (graphite), or ceramic fibers.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
• Properties of Matrix…..:
• Ceramic‐matrix composites, suited for high‐
temperature applications (up to 10000C), consist of
ceramic matrices (silicon, carbide, aluminum oxide,
glass‐ceramic, silicon nitride) reinforced with ceramic
fibers.
• Carbon‐carbon composites consist of carbon or
graphite matrix reinforced with graphite yarn or fabric.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Note: Boron and other ceramic fibers are not commonly used with polymeric
matrices but rather with metal
Dr. Dineshand ceramic
Kumar, Mech. matrices for high temperature
Engg. Deptt.,
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applications. MNIT Jaipur
Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
• Single‐layer: These are actually made of several
layers of fibers, all oriented in the same direction.
Hence they are considered as “single‐layer”
composites.
• These can be further categorized as:
– Continuous and long fibers: Examples include
filament wound shells.
– These may be further classified as:
• Unidirectional reinforcement
• Bidirectional reinforcement
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
– Discontinuous and short‐fibers: Examples include
fiber glass bodies of cars. These may be further
classified as:
• Randomly oriented reinforcement
• Reinforced in preferred directions
• Multi‐layer: Here, reinforcement is provided,
layer‐by‐layer in different directions.
– Laminate: Here, the constituent material in all
layers is the same.
– Hybrid laminates: These have more than one
constituent materials in the composite structure.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Fibrous Composite Materials (Cont…)
(a) Continuous and aligned, (b) Discontinuous and aligned, and (c)
Discontinuous and randomly oriented fiber‐reinforced composites
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Particulate Composite Materials
• Particulate composite materials consist of particles of one
or more materials suspended in a matrix of another
material.
• It may have:
– Random orientation: Orientation of particle is randomly
distributed in all directions (e.g., concrete)
– Preferred orientation: Particle orientation is aligned to specific
directions, e.g., Extruded plastics with reinforcement
particles.
• Particles may be metallic or nonmetallic. The four possible
combinations of these constituents are:
– Nonmetallic particles in nonmetallic matrix composite materials:
e.g., Concrete (particles of sand and rock particles are bounded
together with a mixture of cement and water).
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Particulate Composite Materials (Cont…)
– Metallic particles in nonmetallic matrix composite materials:
e.g., Solid‐rocket propellants (consist of inorganic particles
such as aluminum powder and perchlorate oxidizers in a
organic binder such as polyurethane); Metal flakes in a
suspension are common (for example, aluminum paint,
aluminum flakes suspended in paint)
– Metallic particles in metallic matrix composites: Unlike an
alloy, a metallic particle in a metallic matrix does not dissolve.
E.g., lead particles are commonly used in copper alloys and
steel to improve the machinability.
– Nonmetallic particles in metallic matrix composites: Ceramics
can be suspended in metal matrix. The resulting composite
material is called a cermet which are used in tool making and
high‐temperature applications.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Advantages of Composites
• Composites are engineered materials. We can engineer them
specifically to meet our needs on a case‐to‐case basis.
• In general, following properties can be improved by using
composite materials:
– Strength
– Electrical conductivity
– Modulus
– Thermal conductivity
– Weight
– Behavior at Extreme Temps.
– Fatigue
– Acoustical insulation
– Vibration damping
– Aesthetics
– Resistance to corrosion
– Resistance to wear
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Limitations of Composites
• Like all things in nature, composites materials
have their limitations as well. Some of the
important ones are:
– Anisotropy: A large number of composites have
direction dependent material properties. This
makes them more difficult to understand, analyze and
engineer, vis‐à‐vis isotropic materials.
– Nonhomogenous: Further, these materials by definition
are not homogenous. Hence their material properties
vary from point‐to‐point. This factor as well makes them
difficult to model, and analyze
– Repair of composites is not a simple process compared to
that for metals.
– Composites do not have a high combination of strength
and fracture toughness compared to metals.
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Limitations of Composites (Cont…)
– Costly: Composite materials are in general expensive.
Thus, they are used only in applications where
their benefits outweigh their costs.
– Difficult to fabricate: Further, fabricating structures from
such materials is difficult, time taking, and expensive.
– Sensitivity to temperature: Laminated composites are
particularly sensitive to temperature changes.
They come in with residual thermal stresses, because they
get fabricated at high temperatures, and then
cooled. Such a process locks in thermal stresses into the
structure.
– Moisture effects: Laminated composites are also sensitive
to moisture, and their performance varies significantly
when exposed to moisture for long periods of time
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MNIT Jaipur
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Further Notable Points
• The strength of a graphite/epoxy unidirectional composite
could be the same as steel, but the specific strength is
three times that of steel.
• Flakes have a primarily 2‐D geometry with strength and
stiffness in two directions, as opposed to only one for
fibers. Can be packed with higher density than fibers and
hence require less matrix material.
• 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. For the same
volume fraction of fibers in a composite, the area of the
fiber–matrix interface is inversely proportional to the
diameter of the fiber
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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MNIT Jaipur
Further Notable Points
• 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
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Boeing 787 “Dreamliner”
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AirbusDr. Dinesh
A380 Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Leaf Spring
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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Composite Wind Turbine Blade
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MNIT Jaipur
Foot and Leg Prostheses
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MNIT Jaipur
Dr. Dinesh Kumar, Mech. Engg. Deptt.,
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