IntroductiontoComposite

Introduction
to Composite
MaterialsandStructures
NachiketaTiwari
Nachiketa
Tiwari
IndianInstituteofTechnologyKanpur

Lecture7
MatrixMaterials&PolymerResins

MatrixMaterials
Fibersandwhiskersincompositesareheldtogetherbyabinder
k
knownasmatrix.Thisisrequiredsincefibersbythemselves:
t i Thi i
i d i
fib b th
l
Giventheirsmallcrosssectionalarea,cannotbedirectlyloaded.
Further,theycannottransmitloadbetweenthemselves.

Thislimitationisaddressedbyembeddingfibersinamatrix
material.
Matrixmaterialservesseveralfunctions,theimportantonesbeing:
Bindsfiberstogether.
Binds
fibers together
Transfersloadsandstresseswithinthecompositestructure.
Supporttheoverallstructure
P
Protectsthecompositefromincursionofexternalagentssuchas
h
i f
i
i
f
l
h
humidity,chemicals,etc.
Protectsfibersfromdamageduetohandling.

MatrixMaterials

Matrixmaterialstronglyinfluencescompositesoveralltransverse
modulus,shearproperties,andcompressionproperties.
odu us, s ea p ope t es, a d co p ess o p ope t es

Matrixmaterialalsosignificantlylimitsacompositesmaximum
permissibleoperatingtemperature.

Mostofthematrixmaterialsarerelativelylighter,morecompliant,and
Most
of the matrix materials are relatively lighter more compliant and
weakervisvisfibersandwhiskers.

However,thecombinationoffibers/whiskersandmatrixcanbeverystiff,
verystrong,andyetverylight.
Thus
Thusmostofmoderncompositeshaveveryhighspecificstrengths,i.e.very
most of modern composites have very high specific strengths, i.e. very
highstrength/densityratios.
Thismakesthemveryusefulinaerospaceapplications,whereweight
minimization is a key design consideration
minimizationisakeydesignconsideration.

MatrixMaterials

Matrixmaterialscanbebroadlyclassifiedonthebasisoftheirusable
te pe atu e a ges
temperatureranges.
DifferentClassesofMaterialsand
Usable Temperature Ranges
UsableTemperatureRanges
MatrixMaterial

UsableTemperatureRange (C)

Polymers

<260

Metals

260 750

Glass

750 1150
750

Ceramic andcarbon

1150 1400

ChoosingtheRightMatrixMaterials
g
g
Whileselectingmatrixmaterialforacompositesystem,
several considerations have to be factored into principal ones
severalconsiderationshavetobefactoredinto,principalones
being:

Physicalpropertiessuchaspecificgravity.
y
p p
p
g
y
Mechanicalpropertiessuchasmodulus,strength,CTE,conductivity,etc.
Meltingofcuringtemperatureforthematrixmaterial
Viscosity: It strongly affects processing attributes of the composite and also
Viscosity:Itstronglyaffectsprocessingattributesofthecomposite,andalso
uniformflowofmatrixmaterialintothecompositesystem.
Reactivitywithfibers:Onewouldcertainlynotdesirepossibilityofchemical
reactionsbetweenfibersandmatrixmaterial.
ti
b t
fib
d
ti
t i l
Fabricationprocesscompatiblewithmatrixandfibers
Reactivitywithambientenvironment
Cost

PolymersasMatrixMaterials
y

Polymers:Mostwidelyusedmatrixmaterials
Commonexamples:Polyesters,vinylesters,PEEK,PPS,nylon,polycarbonate,polyacetals,
polyamides,polyetherimides,polystyrene,epoxies,ureas,melamines,silicones.

Advantages:

Lowcost
Easytoprocess
Lowdensity
Superiorchemicalresistance

Limitations:

Lowstrength
Low modulus
Lowmodulus
Limitedrangeforoperatingtemperature
SensitivitytoUVradiation,specificsolvents,andoccasionallyhumidity

PolymersasMatrixMaterials
y
Polymerclassification
Thermoplastics
Softenormeltwhenheated.Thisprocessisreversible.
Theirstructurehaslongchainsofmoleculeswithstrongintramolecularbonds,but
Their structure has long chains of molecules with strong intra molecular bonds but
weakintermolecularbonds.
Whenexposedtoheat,theseintermolecularbondsbreakdown,andthematerial
startsflowing.
g
Semicrystallineofamorphousinstructure
Examples:polyethylene,PEEK,polyamides,polyacetals,polysulfone,PPS,nylon,
polystyrene.

Thermosets
Thesepolymersdonotmelt,butbreakdown(decompose)whenheated.
Amorphous structure
Amorphousstructure
Theyhavenetworkedstructureswithstrongcovalentbondslinkingallmolecules.
Thesenetworkspermanentlybreakdownuponheating.Hence,thesepolymers,
once set,
once
set ,cannotbereshaped.
cannot be reshaped.
Examples:epoxies,polyesters,phenolics,urea,melamine,silicone,polyimides.

PolymersasMatrixMaterials
y

Polymersbehavesignificantlydifferentlyvisvismetals,andceramics.
Performanceofpolymersishighlysensitivetoseveralenvironmentalvariables.For
instance,whilemechanicalpropertiesofmetalsaretemperaturesensitiveonlyin
proximityofmelttemperature,polymersmechanicalpropertiesarehighlysensitiveto
heat.

Followingtabledepictssensitivityofvariouspolymerpropertiesto
externalvariables.
Sensitivity ofDifferentPolymerPropertiestoExternalVariables
Strength

Stiffness

CTE

Thermal
Conductivity

UV
Degradation

Melting
Point

Tg

Heat

High

High

High

High

High

High

High

Environment

High

High

StrainRate

High

High

High

TemperatureSensitivityofPolymers
p
y
y

Polymershavesignificantbehavioralsensitivitytoincreasedtemperatures.
Thi
Thissensitivityisstronglydependentonthestructureofapolymer.
ii i i
l d
d
h
f
l

Asmentionedearlier,polymersmayeitherbethermoplastics,or
,p y
y
p
,
thermosets.Whilethermosetshaveamorphousstructure,thermoplastics
mayhaveeithersemicrystallinestructure,oramorphousstructure.

Temperaturesensitivityofamorphousthermoplastics
Whentheseplasticsareheated,theirspecificvolumeslowlyincreasessomewhatlinearly
g
p
,
p
g
withincreasingtemperature.However,ifthetemperatureexceedstheirglasstransition
temperatureTg,theirspecificvolumeincreasesatafasterrate.Thisisaccompaniedwitha
significantchangeintheirmechanicalproperties.
Hence,thesemaximumusetemperatureforthesematerialsshouldnotexceedT
Hence these maximum use temperature for these materials should not exceed Tg.
IfthesematerialsareheatedbeyondTg,thenthematerialmeltsatTm.
Examplesofthesematerialsarepolystyrene,polycarbonate,andpolymethylmethacrylate.

TemperatureSensitivityofPolymers
p
y
y

Temperaturesensitivityofsemicrystallinethermoplastics
Whentheseplasticsareheated,theirspecificvolumeslowlyincreasessomewhatlinearly
withincreasingtemperature.
Further
Further,ifthetemperatureexceedstheirglasstransitiontemperatureT
if the temperature exceeds their glass transition temperature Tg,theirspecific
their specific
volumeincreasesatasomewhatfasterrate.
Thisisso,becausepresenceofcrystallinestructureinthesematerialstendstolimitthe
extentofchangesinmaterialsmechanicalproperties.
ItisonlywhenthetemperatureexceedstheirmeltingpointTm,thattheirmaterial
properties change significantly and this change is accompanied by very significant increase
propertieschangesignificantly,andthischangeisaccompaniedbyverysignificantincrease
inspecificvolume.Thishappensbecauseatmeltingpoint,thecrystallinebondsinthe
materialbreakdown,andallpropertiesofthematerialundergosuddenandlargechanges.
Thus,maximumusetemperatureforsemicrystallinethermoplasticsisdeterminedmore
bytheirmeltingpoint,andnotsomuchbytheirglasstransitiontemperature.
Examples
Examplesofthesematerialslinearpolyethylene(PE),polyethyleneterephthalate
of these materials linear polyethylene (PE) polyethylene terephthalate (PET),
(PET)
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)orisotactic polypropylene(PP).

TemperatureSensitivityofPolymers
p
y
y

Temperaturesensitivityofthermosets
Unlikethermoplastics,thermosetsdonotmeltuponheating.Rather,theydecompose
whentheyareheatedbeyondacertainthreshold.Hence,thermosetspolymersare
associatedonlywithglasstransitiontemperature,Tg,andhavenomeltingpoint.
Whentheseplasticsareheated,theirspecificvolumeslowlyincreasessomewhatlinearly
withincreasingtemperature.However,ifthetemperatureexceedstheirglasstransition
temperature Tg,theirspecificvolumeincreasesatafasterrate.
temperatureT
their specific volume increases at a faster rate
However,thechangeinmechanicalpropertiesforthesematerialsatcorrespondingto
glass transition temperature is much less visvis
glasstransitiontemperature,ismuchlessvis
visamorphousthermoplastics.Their
amorphous thermoplastics Their relative
relative
reducedsensitivitytotemperatureatTg,isattributabletohighdegreeofcrosslinked
bonds,whichsustainmaterialsmechanicalpropertiesevenatTg.
Eventhen,maximumusetemperaturesforthesematerialsaredictatedbyTg.
Commonexamplesofthesematerialsincludeepoxies,polyesters,andphenolics.
p
p
,p y
,
p

R f
References
1.

Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites, Agarwal,

B D and
B.D.
d Broutman,
B t
L J.,
L.
J John
J h Wiley
Wil & Sons.
S

2
2.

Mechanics
M
h i off Composite
C
i Materials,
M
i l Jones,
J
R M.,
R.
M McGraw
M G
Hill.

3.

Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, Daniel, I.

M and Ishai,
M.
Ishai O.,
O Oxford University Press.
Press