The word "composite" does not fully explain the wide range and variety of material compositions that are classified under it. This article covers some of the commonly used composites. Common materials such as metallic, ceramic and polymeric ones are made up of substances that can be classified as composites. The steel family, considered the largest group of materials used in construction and complex engineering, is composed of composites made of soft metal matrix and hard ceramic components. [11] Such metal composites could have the shape of a plate, a needle, a sphere or be polygonal. Polymer composites are also found in a similar matrix model where one polymer forms the skeleton and another hard or soft polymer fills the matrix. A good example of this would be wood. Concrete is also a popular matrix composite where Portland cement provides the matrix phase and the internal fill is made up of sands of different sizes. Scientists are now able to tailor the composition of these composites to suit different needs. This adjustment is carried out by modifying the microstructure of the materials by changing the state, shape, quantity and distribution of the filling, also called the reinforcement phase. Instead of limiting this modification process within a certain material class, the idea is also implemented in cross material classes. Ceramic powder can be added to plastic to produce hard, flame-retardant polymers. Ceramic powder, when mixed with metals, gives rise to cermets, which are used in the tips of metal cutting tools. Another branch of the same idea is the fusion of metal, ceramic and polymer filaments into one large block to form metal matrix composites (MMC), reinforced plastic (RP) and ceramic matrix composites (CMC). Such a radical idea of mixing all three classes of materials resulted in composite materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP), glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and silicon fiber reinforced aluminum- carbon. Figure 1 shows the comparison between the conventional monolithic material and the composite material. [17, 18,10 and 1 History of Composites Strong [10] and Johnson [11] stated that composite materials have existed for a long time and have been adopted in numerous forms throughout human history. One of the earliest examples of the use of composites could be traced back to the Egyptian period, around 1500 BC, when Egyptians were known to mix straw and mud to make strong, sturdy infrastructure..
tags