CompositeMaterials:SomeApplicationsinPipeline

AriefYudhanto*

1.Introduction

Definition. Composite material is a combination of two or more separate materials in

macroscopicstate. Unlikemetals, the building constituents of composite materials, namelyfiber
andmatrix,stillcanbeobservedwithoutmagnificationdevices.

Function of the Entities. Fibers in composite material act as reinforcement of matrix because
fibers are usually stiffer than matrix. Matrix serves as a binder for fibers arrangement and also
protectsfibersfromenvironmentaleffectandimpactdamage.

Categories. Composite materials can be divided into four categories, namely continuous fiber
composites, woven fiber composite, chopped fiber composite and hybrid composite (Figure 1).
Forstructuralapplications,continuousfibercompositesareusuallyusedandtheycanbestacked
withvariousorientationangles.Inthemarket,theyareavailableintheformofpreimpregnated
ply (prepreg). This prepreg must be cured within autoclave before composite lamina can be
formed. Lamina is one ply of continuous fiber composites with certain orientation angle.
Laminatesarecomposedofseverallaminastackedtogether.

Continuesfibers Wovenfibers

Choppedfibers Hybridcomposites

Figure1.Typesoffiberfiberreinforcedcomposites[Gibson,1994]
1

General Applications. Composite materials have been widely applied to a numerous

applications for the last 40 years. Composite materials have been used in aircraft industry to
produce components with outstanding properties. Composites are also strong candidates to
replacemetalsinautomotive,medical,sportandoilandgasindustry.Thisisduetothefactthat
compositeshaveagoodfatigueresistance,highspecificstrengthandtheyareeasytobetailored
and noncorrosive. However, composites are costly in terms of production. That is why only
severalcrucialpartsofastructurearemadeofcomposites.

2.FiberandMatrix

Fiber. Fibers act as structural materials to sustain loading since they have higher stiffness than
matrix.Whentheyaremixedwithmatrix,fibersarerandominnature(Figure2).Awidevariety
of fibers are available. Most common fibers are glass (Eglass and SGlass types), carbon (some
formsofwhicharegraphite),aramid(soldundertradenameKevlar

byDuPont),boron(ceramic
monofilament),aluminaandsiliconcarbide(SiC).Eglass(namedforitselectricalproperties)and
Sglass (has 20% greater tensile strength than Eglass) are two most popular glass fiber types.
Glass fiber in combination with polymeric matrix (GFRP: glass fiber reinforced plastics) is
commonly used for storage tanks. Carbon fiber is used for aircraft structures like wing skin,
spars, radome, etc. Kevlar

has the highest specific strength among fibers and has excellent
toughness, ductility and impact resistance. It is commonly used for bulletproof jacket. Boron is
normallymixedwithaluminummatrixforaerospacestructures,butitisnotwidelyuseddueto
highcost.

Figure 2. Photomicrograph of typical unidirectional composite: random fiber arrangement of

composite[Herakovich,1998]

Matrix. Matrixcanbeintheformofpolymers,metalsandceramics.Twotypesofpolymersare
usually used, namely thermoplastic polymers (soften upon heating and can be reshaped with
heat and pressure) and thermoset polymers (crosslinked during fabrication and cannot be
reshaped).Epoxy,asonevariantofthermosetpolymer,iscommonlyusedtobindcarbonorglass
fibersforitsgooddimensionalstability.However,utilizationofpolymerasmatrixincomposites
isnotwithoutlimitations.Polymerscanonlybeusedinlimitedtemperaturerange(forinstance,
maximum temperature of epoxy is 175C; maximum temperature of polyimides is 300C).
Polymers have low transverse strength, high residual stress due to fibermatrix mismatch
(different coefficient thermal expansion) and cannot be used near or above glass transition
temperatureTg.
2

3.MechanicalProperties

Typical mechanical properties of engineering materials and composites which are commonly
used in academia and industry are given in Table 1. Stiffness in longitudinal direction (or 1
direction)isrepresentedbyE11andstiffnessintransversedirectionisrepresentedbyE22.Inplane
shear stiffness and inplane Poissons ratio are represented by G12 and 12, respectively. Fiber
volume fraction or Vf shows the ratio between fiber volume and composite (fiber + matrix)
volume.

Table1.Mechanicalpropertiesofengineeringmaterialsandunidirectionalcomposite

Materials E11(GPa) E22(GPa) G12(GPa) 12

Steel 200 200 86.3 0.27
Aluminumalloy 69 69 26 0.33
T300/934(carbon/epoxy) 131 10.3 6.9 0.22
Kevlar49/934(aramid/epoxy) 75.8 5.5 2.3 0.34
Scotchply1002/934(Eglass/epoxy) 38.6 8.27 4.14 0.26
Boron/5505(boron/epoxy) 204.0 18.5 5.59 0.23

4.JoiningTechniques

Joining techniques are used for thermosetting pipes. They can be in the form of adhesively
bonded joints, laminated (butt and wrap) joints and mechanical joints. Joining is done by
adhesive coating and elevated temperature exposure. Figure 3 shows type of joints commonly
usedinpipelines.

Figure3.Typeofjointscommonlyusedinpipelines
3

5.CompositePipe

Pipeline.CompositepipelinesmadeofGFRPorevenhybridcompositeareusedfortransporting
aqueousfluidsandnaturalgases.ThereasontouseGFRPtoreplacesteelisbecauseofitsgood
corrosionresistance.GFRPpipelinealsoperformsgoodfireintegritywhenfilledwithstagnantor
flowingwater.GFRPcanbeusedtobuildcaissonswherehighfatigueresistanceisneeded.

Steel Strip Laminates. Steel Strip Laminates (SSL) pipe is a hybrid composite which comprises
GFRP bore and outer layers and steel strips as inner layer. GFRP is used to protect steel from
corrosive environment, whilst steel itself is a load bearing structure with high pressure
performance. SSL is invented because if only GFRP is utilized for highpressure pipeline, the
thickness tends to become larger than steel pipeline. Overall, SSL has higher ultimate strength
than GFRP yet very costeffective. Bonding between steel and GFRP is ensured by the use of
adhesivedevelopedforrocketmotorcasing.CommercialSSLisshowninFigure4.

Figure4.SteelStripLaminatesforhighpressurepipeline
(http://www.adtechfrp.com/gresteel.html)

Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipework. Reinforced Thermoplastic Pipework (RTP) consists of

inner thermoplastic liner, balanced composite plies in the middle and thermoplastic for outer
cover (Figure 5). Composite of aramid fibers polymeric matrix (AFRP) is used to wrap on the
liner. The advantage of using AFRP is that it can be used in nonimpregnated state. Glass fiber
couldalsobeusedsinceitislessexpensive,butthedamageduetofiberfiberfrictionmayarise.
Polyethylene is usually used for liner and cover, but for higher temperatures polyamide11 and
polyvinylideneflourideareused.RTPhaspotentialuseinoilandgasindustrysinceitissimple
andlowcost.

Figure5.Constructionofreinforcedthermoplasticpipe(RTP)
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Bibliography
[1] GibsonR.F.PrinciplesofCompositeMaterialsMechanics,McGrawHill,1994.
[2] HerakovichC.T.MechanicsofFibrousComposites,JohnWiley&Sons,1998.
[3] Gibson A. G. CompositeMaterialsin the Offshore Industry, ComprehensiveComposite
Materials,Vol.6,pp.459478,ElsevierLtd.,2000.
[4] TierneyJ.J.,Gillespie,JrJ.W.andBourbanP.E.JoiningofComposites,Comprehensive
CompositeMaterials,Vol.2,ElsevierLtd.,2000.

*AbouttheAuthor
AriefYudhanto(email:ariefyudhanto@yahoo.com)isaresearcherattheDataStorageInstitute
A*STAR, Singapore. He received M.Eng degree in Applied Mechanics from National
University of Singapore and B.Eng degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Institut
TeknologiBandung.HeisoneofthemoderatorsofMaterialGroup,andeditorfortheJournal
ofIndonesianOilandGasCommunity.