Textile Composites - Textile Research and Innovation Centre

• Composite materials or composites for short are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different mechanical properties and which remain se

TEXTILE COMPOSITES

Waqas Younus ParachaSenior Research AssistantTextile Research and Innovation Centre (TRIC)

Textile Institute of Pakistan

TYPES OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS.

• The basic types of engineering materials are:

• METALS

• POLYMERS (Plastics)

• CERAMICS

• COMPOSITES

What is a composite?

• While the broad definition of composites is accurate, it is too general

• Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made

from two or more constituent materials with significantly different mechanical properties and which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure

Brief History of Composites

The use of natural composite materials has been a part of man's technology since

the first ancient builder used straw to reinforce mud bricks

HISTORY OF COMPOSITES

• Israelites' use of chopped straw in their brick

HISTORY OF COMPOSITES

• the Egyptian sarcophagi fashioned from glued and laminated wood veneer and also their use of cloth tape soaked in resin for mummy embalming

The Etruscan "Sarcophagus of the Spouses", at the National Etruscan Museum

HISTORY OF COMPOSITES

• the Mongol warriors' high-performance, recurved archery bows of bullock

tendon, horn, bamboo strips, silk and pine resin, which are 80% as strong as our modern fiberglass bows

A modern reconstruction, in fibreglass and wood, of a historical composite bow

HISTORY OF COMPOSITES

• Chinese bamboo rockets reinforced with rope wrappings

• Japanese Samurai swords formed by the repeated folding of a steel bar back on itself

• the early fabrication of steel and of iron gun barrels in Damascus

• Roman artisans' use of ground marble in their lime plaster, frescoes and

pozzolanic mortar

Time scale of composite advancements

COMPOSITION OF A COMPOSITE MATERIAL:

• Composites are made up of individual materials referred to as constituent materials

• There are two categories of constituent materials

– matrix

– Reinforcement

MATRIX (RESIN SYSTEMS)

• matrix holds the reinforcements in an orderly pattern

• the matrix also helps to transfer load

• Matrix materials are usually some type of plastic, and these composites are often

called reinforced plastics

• There are other types of matrices, such as metal or ceramic, but plastics are by far the most common

MATRIX (RESIN SYSTEMS)

• The choice of a resin system for use in any component depends on a number of its characteristics., with the following probably being the most important for most composite structures:

TYPES OF MATRIX (RESIN SYSTEMS)

• Most commonly used resin systems are:

• Polyester resins

• Vinyl ester resins

• Epoxy resins

Some properties of resin systems:

• individual fibres or fibre bundles can only be used on their own in a few

processes such as filament winding For most other applications, the fibres need

to be arranged into some form of sheet, known as a fabric, to make handling possible

• These fabrics can be made through different textile techniques such as braiding, weaving, knitting and sometimes even Non wovens can be used as

reinforcements

• Therefore the utilization of all these textile techniques gave rise to the name TEXTILE COMPOSITES

PROPERTIES OF REINFORCING FIBERS

• The four main factors that govern the fibre’s contribution are:

• 1 The basic mechanical properties of the fibre itself

• 2 The surface interaction of fibre and resin (the ‘interface’)

• 3 The amount of fibre in the composite (‘Fibre Volume Fraction’)

• 4 The orientation of the fibres in the composite

Material Type Tensile Strength

(MPa)

Tensile Modulus (GPa)

Typical Density (g/cc)

WAYS TO MANUFACTURE A COMPOSITE MATERIAL

• Engineered composite materials must be formed to shape

• The matrix material can be introduced to the reinforcement before or after the reinforcement material is placed into the mold cavity or onto the mold surface

• The matrix material experiences a melding event, after which the part shape is essentially set

• Depending upon the nature of the matrix material, this melding event can occur

in various ways such as chemical polymerization or solidification from the melted state

• In general, the reinforcing and matrix materials are combined, compacted and processed to undergo a melding event

• After the melding event, the part shape is essentially set

• There are different type of moulding processes which can be utilized to form a composite material These can be

• Vacuum bag moulding

• Pressure bag moulding

• Autoclave moulding

• Resin transfer moulding (RTM)

VACUUM BAG MOULDING

AUTO CLAVE MOULDING

RESIN TRANSFER MOULDING

TEXTILE COMPOSITES THE WAY FORWARD

• APPLICATIONS IN THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY:

• composite materials comprise more than 20% of the A380's airframe fibre reinforced plastic, glass-fibre reinforced plastic and quartz-fibre reinforced plastic are used extensively in wings, fuselage sections (such as the

Carbon-undercarriage and rear end of fuselage), tail surfaces, and doors

APPLICATIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

• Textile composites have been used in construction since the 1960s, and

• though they do not hold a prominent place compared with that of traditional

• construction materials, their use is on the increase

APPLICATIONS IN THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY

• Splinting materials for the repair of broken bones are not only the largest

• medical market for textile reinforced composites, but the oldest

APPLICATIONS IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY

• Conventional composite materials generally consist of a reinforcing textile structure and a surrounding matrix with other mechanical properties

APPLICATIONS IN THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY

• In 2007 an all-composite military High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV or Hummvee) was introduced by TPI Composites Inc and Armor

Holdings Inc, the first all-composite military vehicle By using composites the vehicle is lighter, allowing higher payloads

• Considering the given examples, one can easily see that a virtually limitless

• number of material combinations are possible

• Hence,

THINK BIG

THINK COMPOSITES!!!!!

THANK YOU