COMPOSITES AND NANO-COMPOSITES

Composites and nano-Composites

[Name of the Institute]

Composites and nano-Composites

Introduction

Composites have unique properties that may not be achieved by the individual properties of the materials that constitute a composite. Composites are becoming significant part of the manufacturing industry as it is used in various parts of flight vehicles, boats, automobiles, roads, bridges, pipelines and various other products. The main advantage of the composite materials that is making it a vital part of our life is that these materials are strong, light in weight, reliable and also inexpensive. This paper selects an automotive component and then identifies the key requirements that are necessary for the manufacturing and effective performance of the product.

Description

Composite Materials

A composite material is made from two or more different materials. A composite material has different property as compared to the individual components that make up a composite. Composite materials are usually radar transparent, non-magnetic in nature, and also have elevated strength and stiffness properties. The components may be identified physically in a composite material and also shows a boundary or an interface between them. Composite materials are usually composed of fibres such as carbon, glass or boron embedded in a binder or matrix materials (Shokuhfar & Farsani, 2011, pp. 341-345). Composites are different from metal alloys, because the formation of structural unit in an alloy is at a microscopic level and the individual metals that are making up an alloy may not be physically identifiable. Composites on the other hand are forms their structural unit at the macroscopic level and are physically identifiable because they do not completely join together.

Types of Composite Materials

The manufacturing of composites may be regarded as copying nature, it is evident from the example of wood, it is a composite consisting of lignin cemented cellulose fibres. Such composites are known as natural composites because they are made naturally. Man made composites usually consists of MMC (metal matrix composite), PMC (polymer matrix composite) and CMC (ceramic matrix composites) (Ashori, 2008, pp 4661-4667).They are usually manufactured by adding metal matrix, polymer matrix or ceramic matrix into reinforced fibers.

Polymer Matrix Composites

Polymer matrix composites are usually used for making automobile components, storage tanks, pipes, boat hulls and various others. “Fibreglass” lies under the category of polymer matrix composites and is also the first successful modern man made composite. PMC's are most widely used composites and are usually known as Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP).

Metal Matrix Composites

Metal matrix composites are frequently utilized at the mobile industry. MMC includes the reinforcement of silicon carbide fibres with metal matrix such as aluminium.

Ceramic Matrix Composites

High temperature environment requirements involve the use of ceramic matrix composites. Such composites utilize short fibres made from boron nitride and silicon carbide along with a matrix of ceramic material.

Nano Composites

The meaning of nanocomposite material has grown fundamentally to envelop a substantial mixed bag of frameworks, for example one-dimensional, two-dimensional, three-dimensional and nebulous materials, made of uniquely unique segments and blended at the nanometer scale. The general class of nanocomposite organic/inorganic materials is a quickly developing region of ...