This century, by analogy with the Bronze or Iron Age, can be confidently called the century of composite materials. The appearance of this term dates back to the middle of the last century, but the concept itself is not new - the use of combinations of different materials was used in the construction of dwellings by the builders of ancient Babylon and Rome, masters of ancient Greece and Moscow architects. In addition, samples of composite materials in a wide variety were created by nature itself - these are bones, wood, animal shells, etc. Composite materials are distinguished by good quality characteristics and attractive appearance.
These materials in their composition have several components: a plastic base, which is called a matrix, and fillers, which allow you to give the original mixture original properties that were initially not typical for it. A feature of composite materials is the presence of boundaries between components, which are also called phases.
The production of these elements is aimed at creating new products that would have the highest quality necessary for the development of modern science and production. To achieve the desired result, a change in the ratio of the amount of matrix and fillers is used, special reagents are actively used. Of no small importance in the manufacture of composites is the arrangement of elements in the material itself, their orderliness with respect to each other and in the expected direction of the impact of the loads. The higher the strength of the composite, the higher the ordering of its structure.
Today, the concept of composite materials means the whole variety of artificially created products, provided that the process of their production meets the basic principle of creating composites. A significant increase in interest in the development and production of new materials contributes to the mismatch of traditional designs with the requirements of modern engineering practice.
What are composite materials made of?
As a matrix in their manufacture are usually used: cements, metals, polymers, ceramics. In this case, natural and artificially created substances having fibrous, sheet, disperse, and large-sized forms can serve as fillers (recently, microdispersed forms and nanoparticles have also begun to be used).
Multicomponent composite materials are divided into: hybrid, comprising various fillers, and polymatric, combining several matrices in one material.
Field of application of composite materials
Since, when creating composite materials, they are purposefully given different properties, their scope is supposed to be quite extensive. Due to their structure and composition, composites can have radar absorbing properties or be radiolucent; they can easily cope with the thermal protection of space stations. Composite materials are used as durable and reliable building materials and beautiful decorative finishes. It is difficult to overestimate the possibilities of development and improvement of production and technologies that the use of composites in electronics, medicine, metallurgy, sports, and art gives.
Now you know a lot about what constitutes the production of composite materials!