Composite material

Composite materials are made from two or more basic material. They are not just placed together. They are merged together. This create a material with useful properties unlike the individual elements.

The composite material as a whole may behave differently from either of its parts. For example, reinforced concrete (made of concrete and steel) has resistance to pressure and to bending forces. Bullet-proof glass (made of glass and plastic) is far more resistant to impact than either glass or plastic on their own.

Concrete itself is a composite material. It is one of the oldest man-made composites, used more than any other man-made material in the world.Lomberg, Bjorn 2001. The skeptical environmentalist: measuring the real state of the world. Cambridge University Press, p138. 

Wood is a natural composite of cellulose fibres in a matrix of lignin.Hubbe M.A. & Lucia L.A. 207. The love-hate relationship present in lignocellulose materials. Bioresources. 2, 534.Hon, David  and Shiraishi, Nobuo (eds) 2001. Wood and cellulose chemistry. 2nd ed, New York: Marcel Dekker. The earliest man-made composite materials were straw and mud combined to form bricks for building construction. This ancient brick-making process was documented by Egyptian tomb paintings. It is still used today in some places.

Fibre-reinforced polymers are in wide use today, as is glass-reinforced plastic.


The Biblical book of Exodus tells of the Israelites that were oppressed by Pharaoh and forced to make "bricks without straw".The old brick-making process can still be seen on Egyptian tomb paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. . 

Related pages
Alloy
Fibre
Polymer
Thermoplastic
Reinforced concrete

 References 

 Other websites 

Composite material key concepts 
Society of Manufacturing Engineers: Plastics, Composites & Coatings Community 
Category:Synthetic materials