High-performance composites and their applications

Abstract

High-performance composites (HPC), composed of reinforcement (fibers, particles, fillers, etc.) and matrix (polymers, metals, ceramics, etc.), are used widely as advanced materials. Oriented continuous fibers as reinforcements primarily determine strength and modulus. Fiber reinforcements in HPC are spun from materials, including not only carbon, glass, and aramid but also ultrahigh-molecularweight polyethylene (UHWPE), ceramic, quartz, boron, and new polymers, such as poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBO). Matrixes in HPC are mainly polymers, such as epoxy resin, Bakelite resin, unsaturated polyester resin, etc. Matrix holds the reinforcement to form the desired shape, while the reinforced material improves the overall properties. High-performance composites have been widely used to aviation, aerospace, transportation, military defense, and so on because of their excellent properties, lightweight, low cost, etc. They have increasingly replaced traditional materials such as some metals and their alloys. In this research work, the high-performance fibers and their preforms, high-performance resins, manufacturing methods, mechanical properties of high-performance composites, and their applications are reviewed.