19 Fiber Reinforced Composites
Filament
An extremely long, continuous fiber.
Vapor Deposition
The build up of a material by being deposited from the vapor or gaseous phase.
Phenolic Resin
The common name for the thermosetting resin named phenol formaldehyde.
Unidirectional
Running only in one direction.
Biased
When fibers are oriented in some direction other than zero or ninety degrees.
Amorphous
When molecules have no definite regularity or order.
Roving
A collection of tows, strands, or yarns.
Catalyst
A material that speeds a reaction but is not consumed in the reaction process.
Rule of Mixtures
A mathematical method for determining the total amount of support provided to the composite by the combination of the reinforcing material and the matrix.
Fiber Loading
A measurement of the relative amount of volume that the fibers occupy in a composite material.
Liquid Melt Infiltration
A method of forming composites where the matrix is melted and fibers are suspended in the matrix.
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
A number that represents the percentage of expansion for each one degree Celsius rise in temperature.
Brittle
A physical property indicating the material will break when forced to undergo small deformations.
Crystallinity
A property of polymers where there exists areas of regularity called crystallites. This results in a stronger and more opaque material.
Torsional
A result of being twisted.
S-Glass
A type of glass fiber that is stronger and more chemically resistant than E-Glass.
Kevlar
A type of polymer used to make fibers for reinforcing composites. It is frequently used in areas of high stress.
Tow
Groups or bundles of fiber filaments.
Quasi-Isotropic
Has nearly equal strength in all directions.
E-Glass
The most common type of glass fiber used for fiberglass.It is a type of brosilicate glass.
Hand Lay-Up
The process of forming a fiber reinforced composite by manually alternating layers of fibers and resin on an open mold until the desired thickness has been achieved.
Fracture Toughness
The tendency of a material to resist the propagation of cracks when stress is applied.
