COMPOSITE MATERIALS

The need to produce new materials

Ancient human beings used clay,wood,stone,glass or metal as buildings
materials.These materials have limitations;they corrode or rot
easily,heavy,bulky or difficult to shape or carve.
Continuous research and development has been done in searching for
new structures materials to fulfill our needs.These properties cannot be
met by the conventional metals,alloys,ceramics and polymeric materials.
The new building materials must have varied and diversified properties
such as low density,strong,stiff,abrasive,resistant to heat,impact and
corrosion.
In designing new building materials,scientist and engineers combine
various metals,ceramics and polymers to produce a new generation of
extraordinary materials as known as composite materials.
 Diagram shows the corrosion of buildings
 What are composite materials?
A composite material is a structural material that is formed by combining two or more
different substances like metals,alloys,glass,ceramics and polymers.Usually,the new
composite materials formed have properties that are superior to those the original
components.
Composite materials combine the advantageous properties of more than one material
and overcome the limitations of the component materials.Thus,they are more useful for
particular purposes than the individuals components.
During the production of a new composite material,normally a continuous serial of
research and tests has to be done on its properties in different directions,its effects on
human health and also on the environment.
Wood and bones are naturally composite materials.Wood consists of strong and flexible
cellulose fibre surrounded and held together by a stiffer material called lignin.Bone is a
composite of the strong yet soft protein collagen and the hard ,brittle mineral apatite.
Plywood is a conventional composite material.It is built in layers.Each layer is reinforced
with long fires laid in a single direction.It exhibits enhanced strength only along the
direction of the fibres.Fibres woven into a three-dimensional structure can produce
stronger plywood.These fibres are laid along three mutually perpendicular axes.
Some examples of common composite materials are reinforced concrete,specific super
conductor,fibre optic,fibre glass and photochromic glass.
 Substance that formed wood becomes a composite
material.
 REINFORCED CONCRETES
Concrete is a mixture of cement,sand,gravels and water and therefore is a
composite material.
When cement is mixed with water to form a paste,it is soft and can be moulded
into different shapes.This paste hardens when dry into a hard but brittle solid
called concrete.
A concrete slab is weak in tensile strength and brittle.It will crack if a heavy
load is placed on it but it is strong against
compression,hard,fireproof,waterproof,easy to maintain and comparatively
cheap.
Steel is strong in tensile strength and corrode easily but expensive.Steel and
concrete have about the same coefficient of expansion.
To improve the tensile strength,steel is used to reinforce the concrete.When
concrete is reinforced with the steel wires,bars or netting,the resulting
combination is a very tough material with more tensile strength and does nor
crack easily.Reinforced concrete is relatively cheap and can be moulded
easily.Thus,it needs very low building cost and very little maintenance.
 Reinforced concrete is used to make multi-storey high-rise
buildings,bridges,highways,airport runways and oil
platforms.
Concrete can also be reinforced with other materials such
as glass fibre,silicon carbide,aluminum oxide particles and
polymer fibres.
The fibre reinforced concrete is of greater strength than
ordinary concrete and has increased resistance to
impact.It has been used in the construction of roads and
aircraft runways and rocket launching pads.
Concrete reinforced with polymer fibres is suitable to built
buildings that are subjected to earthquakes.
 Reinforced concrete
 FIBRE OPTIC
MADE FROM GLASS,COPPER AND ALUMINIUM
ENABLES INFORMATION TO BE TRASMITTED IN LIGHT FORM AT
HIGH SPEED (SPEED OF LIGHT)
USED IN FIELD OF

COMMUNICATIONS TO MAKE ELECTRICAL CABLES

MEDICINE TO OBSERVE INTERNAL ORGANS WITHOUT
PERFORMING SURGERY
 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
Fibre optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables.
Fibre optic cable is less susceptible to signal degradation than copper wire.
Fibre optic cables weigh less than a copper wire cable.
Data can be transmitted digitally.
Lower-power transmitted can be used instead of the high-voltage electrical
transmitters used for copper wires.
Unlike electrical signals in copper wires, light signals from one fibre do not
interfere with those of other fibres in the same cable.
Because no electricity is passed through optical cable it is non-flammable and
immune to lighthing.
Impossible to tap into a fibre optics cable,making it more secure.
DISADVANTAGES
Expensive to install
The termination of a fibre optics cable is complex and requires
special tools
They are more fragile than coaxial cable
 FIBREGLASSES

- Plastic is light (with low density) , elastic , flexible , but is brittle ,

not very strong and is inflammable (can catch fire)
- Glass is hard and strong but is brittle , heavy (with a relatively
high density and has a low compressive strength
 When glass fibre filaments are embedded in polyster resin (a type
of plastic), fibreglass which is light , strong tough , resilient ,
inflammable , flexible with a high tensile strength is produced
It can also be easily coloured , moulded and shaped. A resilient
material is one that returns to it original shape after bending ,
twisting , stretching and compressed
 - Fibreglass is an ideal material for making water storage
tanks , boat hulls , swimming pool linings , food containers ,
fishing rods , car bodies , roofing , furniture and pipes
 SUPERCONDUCTORS
Superconductors are materials capable of conducting
electricity without any electrical resistance when cooled to
an extremely low temperature.
Most of the suerconductors are alloys or compounds of
metal or ceramic with metal oxides. Some superconductors
are made from composite materials.
A mixture of barium oxide, BaO, copper(II) sulphate,CuO,
and itrium oxide,Y2O3, can be made into ceramic
supercondutor called perovskite,YBa2Cu307.
USES OF SUPERCONDUCTORS
Bullet trains in Japan
Medical magnetic-imaging devices like magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) in hospitals
Magnetic energy storage system
Magnetically levitated train
Motors and generators
Transformers
Computer parts
Very sensitive devices for measuring magnetic
fields,voltage or current
 Low power
dissipation

Improving ADVANTAGES OF DEVICES

telecomm- MADE FROM
High-speed
unication SUPERCONDUCTORS operation

High sensitivity
 Bullet train
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
 PHOTOCHROMIC GLASS
A photochromic material is one that changes from transparent
to colored when it is exposed to ultraviolet light,and reverts to
transparency when the light is dimmed or blocked.
Photochromic glass can be produced by embedding
photochromic substances like fine silver chloride or silver
halide crystals in glass or transparent polymers as the matrix.
When exposed to light,the silver ions,Ag+ are converted to
silver and the glass darkens.The photochromic glass become
transparent again when the silver atoms lose electrons to form
silver silver ions when light is blocked.This is because the
halogen formed during the decomposition of silver halide
cannot escape from the glass,so it recombines with the silver
atom in the dark and image fades.
The chemical can also undergo a chemical process that causes
it to change shape.The new structure absorbs a portion of the
light causing the lenses to darken.The number of atoms that
change shape varies with the intensity of the light.
 Photochromic glass is used to make :
optical lenses in glasses
car windshields
smart energy efficient windows in buildings
information diaplay panels
camera lenses
optical switches
light detector devices
automatic light-control devices
light intensity meters for measuring the intensity of light
 When making lens and windshields,the
photochromic glass helps :
to protect our eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays
and glare from the sun
to control the amount of light that passes through
automatically
our eyes to cope when they are exposed to different
light conditions
to reduce refraction of light
Comparison of the properties between composite
materials with those of their original component