Contents

From the preface to First Edition xiii

Preface to Second Edition xiv

1 General introduction 1
1.1 Types of composite material 1
1.2 Design of composite materals 5
1.3 The concept of load transfer 6
References and further reading 8

2 Fibres and matrices

2.1 Reinforcements
2.1.1 Carbon fibres
2.1.2 Glass fibres 14
2.1.3 Organic fibres 16
2.1.4 Silicon carbide 17
2.1.5 Alumina and aluminosilicates 21
2.2 The strength of reinforcements 22
2.2.1 Thermal stability 22
2.2.2 Compressive strength 23
2.2.3 Fibre fracture and flexibility 24
2.2.4 A statistical treatment of fibre strength 27
2.3 Matrices 30
2.3.1 Polymer matrices 30
2.3.2 Metal matrices 34
2.3.3 Ceramic matrices 35
References and further reading 36

3 Fibre architecture 39
3.1 General considerations 39

Published online by Cambridge University Press

 viii Contents
3.1.1 Volume fraction and weight fraction 39
3.1.2 Fibre packing arrangements 40
3.1.3 Clustering of fibres and particles 42
3.2 Long fibres 43
3.2.1 Laminates 43
3.2.2 Woven, braided and knitted fibre arrays 46
3.2.3 Characterisation of fibre orientations in a plane 48
3.3 Short fibres 49
3.3.1 Fibre orientation distributions in three dimensions 49
3.3.2 Fibre length distributions 53
3.4 Voids 55
3.5 Fibre orientation during processing 59
References and further reading 59

4 Elastic deformation of long-fibre composites 60

4.1 Axial stiffness 60
4.2 Transverse stiffness 62
4.3 Shear stiffness 69
4.4 Poisson contraction effects 71
References and further reading 77

5 Elastic deformation of laminates 78

5.1 Elastic deformation of anisotropic materials 78
5.1.1 Hooke'slaw 78
5.1.2 Effects of symmetry 80
5.2 Off-axis elastic constants of laminae 83
5.2.1 Calculation procedure 83
5.2.2 Engineering constants 87
5.3 Elastic deformation of laminates 93
5.3.1 Loading of a stack of plies 93
5.3.2 Predicted behaviour 95
5.4 Stresses and distortions 97
5.4.1 Balanced laminates 97
5.4.2 Stresses in individual plies of a laminate 98
5.4.3 Coupling stresses and symmetric laminates 101
References and further reading 104

6 Stresses and strains in short-fibre composites 105

6.1 The shear lag model 105
6.1.1 Stress and strain distributions 107
6.1.2 The stress transfer length 109

Published online by Cambridge University Press

 Contents ix
6.1.3 Transfer of normal stress across fibre ends 114
6.1.4 Prediction of stiffness 115
6.1.5 Onset of inelastic behaviour 118
6.2 The Eshelby method 121
6.2.1 A misfitting ellipsoid 123
6.2.2 The equivalent homogeneous ellipsoid 123
6.2.3 The background stress 126
6.2.4 Composite stiffness 127
References and further reading 131

7 The interface region 133

7.1 Bonding mechanisms 133
7.1.1 Adsorption and wetting 133
7.1.2 Interdiffusion and chemical reaction 135
7.1.3 Electrostatic attraction 137
7.1.4 Mechanical keying 137
7.1.5 Residual stresses 138
7.2 Experimental measurement of bond strength 138
7.2.1 Single-fibre pull-out test 140
7.2.2 Single-fibre push-out and push-down tests 143
7.2.3 Other tests 146
7.3 Control of bond strength 147
7.3.1 Coupling agents and environmental effects 147
7.3.2 Toughness-reducing coatings 151
7.3.3 Interfacial chemical reaction and diffusion barrier
coatings 152
7.3.4 The interphase region 153
References and further reading 155

8 Strength of composites 158

8.1 Failure modes of long-fibre composites 158
8.1.1 Axial tensile failure 159
8.1.2 Transverse tensile failure 171
8.1.3 Shear failure 177
8.1.4 Failure in compression 178
8.2 Failure of laminae under off-axis loads 184
8.2.1 Maximum stress criterion 185
8.2.2 Other failure criteria 186
8.2.3 Experimental data for single laminae 188
8.3 Strength of laminates 191

Published online by Cambridge University Press

 Contents

8.3.1 Tensile cracking 192

8.3.2 Interlaminar stresses 194
8.3.3 Edge effects 195
8.4 Failure of tubes under internal pressure 197
8.4.1 Pure hoop loading 199
8.4.2 Combined hoop and axial loading 201
8.4.3 Netting analysis 203
References and further reading 205

9 Toughness of composites 208

9.1 Fracture mechanics 208
9.1.1 Basic concepts 208
9.1.2 Interfacial fracture and crack deflection 213
9.2 Contributions to work of fracture 217
9.2.1 Matrix deformation 217
9.2.2 Fibre fracture 218
9.2.3 Interfacial debonding 219
9.2.4 Frictional sliding and fibre pull-out 220
9.2.5 Effects of microstructure 223
9.3 Sub-critical crack growth 226
9.3.1 Fatigue 227
9.3.2 Stress corrosion cracking 233
References and further reading 234

10 Thermal behaviour of composites 237

10.1 Thermal expansion and thermal stresses 237
10.1.1 Thermal stresses and strains 237
10.1.2 Thermal expansivities 240
10.1.3 Thermal cycling of unidirectional composites 244
10.1.4 Thermal cycling of laminates 247
10.2 Creep 251
10.2.1 Basics of matrix and fibre behaviour 251
10.2.2 Axial creep of long-fibre composites 253
10.2.3 Transverse creep and discontinuously reinforced
composites 255
10.3 Thermal conduction 259
10.3.1 Heat transfer mechanisms 259
10.3.2 Conductivity of composites 260
10.3.3 Interfacial thermal resistance 264
References and further reading 269

Published online by Cambridge University Press

 Contents xi
11 Fabrication 271
11.1 Polymer composites 271
11.1.1 Liquid resin impregnation routes 272
11.1.2 Pressurised consolidation of resin pre-pregs 274
11.1.3 Consolidation of resin moulding compounds 276
11.1.4 Injection moulding of thermoplastics 278
11.1.5 Hot press moulding of thermoplastics 279
11.2 Metal composites 280
11.2.1 Squeeze infiltration 281
11.2.2 Stir casting 282
11.2.3 Spray deposition 283
11.2.4 Powder blending and consolidation 285
11.2.5 Diffusion bonding of foils 285
11.2.6 Physical vapour deposition (PVD) 286
11.3 Ceramic composites 286
11.3.1 Powder-based routes 288
11.3.2 Reactive processing 290
11.3.3 Layered ceramic composites 291
11.3.4 Carbon/carbon composites 291
References and further reading 293

12 Applications 295
12.1 Minesweeper hull 295
12.2 Sheet processing rolls 297
12.3 Helicopter rotor blade 299
12.4 Golf driving club 301
12.5 Racing bicycle 303
12.6 Diesel engine piston 303
12.7 Microelectronics housing 305
12.8 Gas turbine combustor can 307
12.9 Aircraft brakes 308
References and further reading 309

Appendix Nomenclature 311

Author index 315
Subject index 320

Published online by Cambridge University Press

Published online by Cambridge University Press