In most cases, the change in material has translated into an improvement in performance or safety for participants. Applications such as golf club shafts, fishing poles, tennis rackets, skiing equipment, boating applications, and many other sports equipment products are now produced almost exclusively using advanced composites. Composites have made the greatest impact in the sporting goods industry, replacing traditional materials at a revolutionary pace. Large tanks for fuel, water, and cargo have been used aboard ships. In addition to pleasure boats, large military and commercial boats and ship hulls have been fabricated. The ease of fabricating very large and strong articles in one piece has been another. Lack of corrosion, low maintenance, and design flexibility have contributed to the acceptance of composites. New-construction time has been reduced and more flexibility has been added to the design of structures.Ĭomposite materials affected the marine industry very early in their development, and their influence continues to grow.
Their ease of manufacture, light weight, high strength, low maintenance, decorativeness, and functionality have had a significant impact on the industry. Examples of products in this industry include auto and truck bodies and parts, trailers, tanks, special-purpose vehicles, and manufacturing equipment.Ĭomposites have added new dimensions to the design and construction of buildings. The lack of corrosion of the materials and the low maintenance cost have reduced the cost of ownership and extended the service life of many parts and products. The light weight and high strength and the ability to easily manufacture aerodynamic shapes have resulted in lower fuel costs. The transportation industry has made extensive use of composite materials. The matrix polymer can impart great chemical and corrosion resistance to composites. The opportunity to select the constituents, tailor them to obtain the required properties, and then through design make the optimum use of the properties is a situation that makes composites very attractive to many industries. Since composite materials can be manufactured into almost any shape, they allow great design flexibility and offer reduced parts count for articles.
In fact, the superior fatigue performance of composite materials enables them to be used to repair metallic airframes with fatigue damage. Advanced composites exhibit desirable dynamic properties and have high creep resistance and good dampening characteristics. The weight savings translates into energy savings or increased performance. These features can reduce the weight of a system by as much as 20 to 30%. Composite materials also generally have higher strength- and modulus-to-weight ratios than traditional engineering materials.
The wide range of property values attained with composites and the ability to tailor the properties is an advantage. We shall look at some of the advantages of using composites and discuss some of the industries that have made used of these materials. Curliss, in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition), 2003 VI Uses of CompositesĬomposite materials have been introduced into almost every industry in some form or fashion.