page_title: Polymer engineering
section_title: Composites
hierarchical_section_title: Polymer engineering / Applications / Composites
caption_attribution_description: English: A cyclist in an individual time trial. Note that the front wheel is installed backward, in much the same manner as Jan Ullrich has experienced.
context_page_description: Polymer engineering is generally an engineering field that designs, analyses, and modifies polymer materials. Polymer engineering covers aspects of the petrochemical industry, polymerization, structure and characterization of polymers, properties of polymers, compounding and processing of polymers and description of major polymers, structure property relations and applications.
context_section_description: Typical uses of composites are monocoque structures for aerospace and automobiles, as well as more mundane products like fishing rods and bicycles. The stealth bomber was the first all-composite aircraft, but many passenger aircraft like the Airbus and the Boeing 787 use an increasing proportion of composites in their fuselages, such as hydrophobic melamine foam. The quite different physical properties of composites gives designers a much greater freedom in shaping parts, which is why composite products often look different to conventional products. On the other hand, some products such as drive shafts, helicopter rotor blades, and propellers look identical to metal precursors owing to the basic functional needs of such components.
caption: A time-trial carbon fibre composite bicycle with aerodynamic wheels and aero bars
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