Composites Design

Textile composites encompass a rather narrow range of materials, based on three-dimensional reinforcements produced using specialist equipment. This book describes the design, manufacture and applications of textile composites. The intention is to describe the broad range of polymer composite materials with textile reinforcements, from woven and non-crimp commodity fabrics to 3-D textiles and their applications. The book gives particular attention to the modelling of textile structures, composites manufacturing methods, and subsequent component performance. This practical book is an invaluable guide for manufacturers of polymer composite components, end-users and designers, structural materials researchers, and textile manufacturers involved in the development of new products with textile composites.

The manufacturing processes of composite materials are numerous and often complex. Continuous research into the subject area has made it hugely relevant with new advances enriching our understanding and helping us overcome design and manufacturing challenges. Advances in Composites Manufacturing and Process Design provides comprehensive coverage of all processing techniques in the field with a strong emphasis on recent advances, modeling and simulation of the design process. Part One reviews the advances in composite manufacturing processes and includes detailed coverage of braiding, knitting, weaving, fibre placement, draping, machining and drilling, and 3D composite processes. There are also highly informative chapters on thermoplastic and ceramic composite manufacturing processes, and repairing composites. The mechanical behaviour of reinforcements and the numerical simulation of composite manufacturing processes are examined in Part Two. Chapters examine the properties and behaviour of textile reinforcements and resins. The final chapters of the book investigate finite element analysis of composite forming, numerical simulation of flow processes, pultrusion processes and modeling of chemical vapour infiltration processes. Outlines the advances in the different methods of composite manufacturing processes Provides extensive information on the thermo-mechanical behavior of reinforcements and composite prepregs Reviews numerical simulations of forming and flow processes, as well as pultrusion processes and modeling chemical vapor infiltration

Presenting a wealth of completely revised examples and new information, Introduction to Composite Materials Design, Second Edition greatly improves on the bestselling first edition. It incorporates state-of-the-art advances in knowledge and design methods that have taken place over the last 10 years, yet maintains the distinguishing features and vital content of the original. New material in this second edition: Introduces new background topics, including design for reliability and fracture mechanics Revises and updates information on polymer matrices, modern fibers (e.g., carbon nanotubes, Basalt, Vectran) and fiber forms such as textiles/fabrics Includes new information on Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM) Incorporates major advances in prediction of unidirectional-lamina properties Reworks sections on material failure, including the most advanced prediction and design methodologies, such as in situ strength and Mohr-Coulomb criterion, etc. Covers all aspects of preliminary design, relegating finite element analysis to a separate textbook Discusses methodology used to perform damage mechanics analysis of laminated composites accounting for the main damage modes: longitudinal tension, longitudinal compression, transverse tension, in-plane shear, and transverse compression Presents in-depth analysis of composites reinforced with plain, twill, and satin weaves, as well as with random fiber reinforcements Expands the analysis of thin walled beams with newly developed examples and MATLAB® code Addresses external strengthening of reinforced-concrete beams, columns, and structural members subjected to both axial and bending loads The author distributes 78 fully developed examples throughout the book to illustrate the application of presented analysis techniques and design methodology, making this textbook ideally suited for self-study. Requiring no more than senior undergraduate-level understanding of math and mechanics, it remains an invaluable tool for students in the engineering disciplines, as well as for self-studying, practicing engineers.

Smart Composites: Mechanics and Design addresses the current progress in the mechanics and design of smart composites and multifunctional structures. Divided into three parts, it covers characterization of properties, analyses, and design of various advanced composite material systems with an emphasis on the coupled mechanical and non-mechanical behaviors. Part one includes analyses of smart materials related to electrically conductive, magnetostrictive nanocomposites and design of active fiber composites. These discussions include several techniques and challenges in manufacturing smart composites and characterizing coupled properties, as well as the analyses of composite structures at various length and time scales undergoing coupled mechanical and non-mechanical stimuli considering elastic, viscoelastic (and/or viscoplastic), fatigue, and damage behaviors. Part two is dedicated to a higher-scale analysis of smart structures with topics such as piezoelectrically actuated bistable composites, wing morphing design using macrofiber composites, and multifunctional layered composite beams. The analytical expressions for characterization of the smart structures are presented with an attention to practical application. Finally, part three presents recent advances regarding sensing and structural health monitoring with a focus on how the sensing abilities can be integrated within the material and provide continuous sensing, recognizing that multifunctional materials can be designed to both improve and enhance the health-monitoring capabilities and also enable effective nondestructive evaluation. Smart Composites: Mechanics and Design is an essential text for those interested in materials that not only possess the classical properties of stiffness and strength, but also act as actuators under a variety of external stimuli, provide passive and active response to enable structural health monitoring, facilitate advanced nondestructive testing strategies, and enable shape-changing and morphing structures.

This book presents an introduction to the design and manufacture of fibre-reinforced composites. The mechanical properties of unidirectional composites are considered in a structural design context. The use of woven and random fibres is also addressed. The accuracy of design estimates for unidirectional composites is benchmarked against test data, and the relevance of a factor of safety (FoS) is established. The importance of prototype testing is emphasised. This book illustrates how to make a fibre-reinforced composite. Wet layup, vacuum bagging and prepreg moulding are covered in detail. Some guidance on mould design and construction is also provided. Finally, an introduction to the manufacture of composite tubes is presented. Wherever possible, design and make examples are used to illustrate the content. Tutorial questions and problems are included at the end of each chapter. The reader is encouraged to use these questions and problems to assess their own level of understanding of the content.

A practical book of value to those in the automotive, chemical, aerospace and offshore industries. Case studies are included and as well as covering flexible manufacturing systems and non-destructive evaluation, the author looks ahead to metal matrix composites and ceramic matrix composites.