Composite material

Prof. Dr. Waleed Badawi-Department of Physics

eps.waleedb.salih@uoanbar.edu.iq

The author's official website

Composite materials have basic engineering advantages that made them receive increasing attention in our time, as they entered into many fields, including (military, civil, aerospace and medical industries, etc.) because of their special features and unique uses. Composite materials are known as a mixture of two mixed materials. With each other, one of them is called the base material (Matrix) and the other is the reinforcing material. The basic material may be ceramic, mineral or polymeric, while the reinforcing materials are in the form of (particles, sheets and fibers..etc) and Figure (1) shows the basic composite of the overlapping materials. [The composite materials are characterized by many characteristics, including (strength, durability, thermal and electrical insulation, low density and ease of formation), and this is what preferred them over the rest of the traditional ordinary materials, and in general these properties depend on both the base material and the reinforcing materials that make up them, as well as on the weight or volume fractions. In addition, it may also depend on the nature of the interface of the overlapping material.

Components of Composite Materials

 1. Matrix Material

It is the material that performs the function of linking the reinforcing materials and transferring forces to them, and it can also be defined as the main factor that links the reinforcement phases, and it is one of the important components of the overlapping materials, the base material is often either with a metallic, ceramic or polymeric basis. The base material represents the continuous phase, and one of the important functions that must be available in the base materials is to connect the reinforcing materials with each other, and work to transfer the stress forces that are affected by the overlapping materials to the reinforcing materials. The basis is the function of protecting the reinforcement materials, as you protect them from mechanical influences, chemical reactions, oxidation and corrosion, as well as protecting them from thermal changes. The base material is chosen according to many factors, the most important of which are the ease of manufacture of the material, its low cost, its suitability with the reinforcement materials and its resistance to various environmental conditions. 

 2- Reinforcement Material:

The reinforcing materials are the second phase of the overlapping materials, as they are one of the main components of these materials, and the main function of the reinforcing materials is to increase the stiffness and resistance of the overlapping materials. The reinforcing materials consist of materials (polymeric, metallic and ceramic) as well as take different forms (fibers, particles, layers and fillings). etc.) and figure (2) gives some forms of reinforcement materials that are used to reinforce the overlapping materials. The composite materials can be classified according to the reinforcement materials into fiber reinforced composites, sheet reinforced composites and particulate reinforced composites, and they are as follows: