Textile Composite Material (TCM): Application of composites
AS defined earlier two inherently different materials are mixed to form a new material called composite material which is different to both but better in properties. To develop enabling technology for Textile Composite Material (TCM) that can be applied in the textiles and clothing industry.
Fibre-reinforced composite materials have gained popularity (despite their generally high cost) in high-performance products that need to be lightweight, yet strong enough to take harsh loading conditions such as aerospace components (tails, wings, fuselages, propellers), boat and scull hulls, bicycle frames and racing car bodies. Other uses include fishing rods, storage tanks, swimming pool panels, and baseball bats.
The Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 structures including the wings and fuselage are composed largely of composites. Composite materials are also becoming more common in the realm of orthopaedic surgery, and it is the most common hockey stick material.
Carbon composite is a key material in today’s launch vehicles and heat shields for the re-entry phase of spacecraft. It is widely used in solar panel substrates, antenna reflectors and yokes of spacecraft. It is also used in payload adapters, inter-stage structures and heat shields of launch vehicles. Furthermore, disk brake systems of aeroplanes and racing cars are using carbon/carbon material, and the composite material with carbon fibres and silicon carbide matrix has been introduced in luxury vehicles and sports cars.
In 2006, a fibre-reinforced composite pool panel was introduced for in-ground swimming pools, residential as well as commercial, as a non-corrosive alternative to galvanized steel.
Composite materials are replacing day by day the conventional metallic materials due to their light weight, high strength, design flexibility and long life. Especially for aeronautical applications due to their relatively higher strength, more uniform properties and reduced manufacturing cost and a note on thermoplastic and thermoset resins.
The new Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner, makes use of modern composites in its design. More than 20 % of the A380 is made of composite materials, mainly plastic reinforced with carbon fibres. The design is the first large-scale use of glass-fibre-reinforced aluminium, a new composite that is 25 % stronger than conventional airframe aluminium but 20 % lighter.
The two constituents of the composites are called matrix and resin. Today, the use of composites has evolved to commonly incorporate a structural fibre and a plastic, this is known as Fiber Reinforced Plastics or FRP for short. Like straw, the fibre provides the structure and strength of the composite, while a plastic polymer holds the fibre together. Common types of fibres used in FRP composites include:
- Fibreglass
- Carbon fibre
- Aramid fibre
- Boron fibre
- Basalt fibre
- Natural fibre (wood, flax, hemp, etc.)
Adhesives are found throughout everyday life. Sometimes it is obvious such as a sealed cereal box or reminding yourself with a Post-It® note. Other times, it is much more subtle, like the adhesives used within the frame of an automobile, making it stronger and more impact resistant or the adhesives used to seal medical devices such as needles, oxygen masks and catheters. Whether it’s noticed every day or barely seen, Ellsworth Adhesives has an adhesive for every application.
Common plastic resins used in composites include:
- Epoxy
- Vinyl Ester
- Polyester
- Polyurethane
- Polypropylene
- Acrylic
- Anaerobic
- Cyanoacrylate
- Hot Melt
- Silicon
Smart methacrylate adhesives for composites, metals and plastics
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Conclusion
The 1990s saw a growing mood of cautious optimism within the composite’s community worldwide that textile-based composites will give rise to new composite material applications in a wide range of areas. Consequently, a wide range of textile reinforced composites is under development/ investigation or in production. Textile reinforcement is thus likely to provide major new areas of opportunity for composite materials in the future. The main advantages of composite materials are their high strength and stiffness, combined with low density, when compared with bulk materials, allowing for a weight reduction in the finished part.
Acknowledgement: Technical and technological Facts in this write up has been selected from various sources. Wish to thank all authors and organizations for the information provided, which was a great source of inspiration in the preparation of this article.