Summary

This short course on composites is an overview of the composite industry. The course material is divided into two parts: (1) Raw material and (2) the processing techniques. It briefly reviews the different type of fibers such as glass, carbon, aramid, boron, natural fibers and metal powders. Nano composites are also looked into. The role of wetting agent for composites is explained. The thermoplastic plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, nylons are described in brief. The thermoset polymers such as epoxy, epoxy vinyl esters, unsaturated polyesters, polyurethanes and phenolic resins are presented briefly. The processing techniques for composites are discussed in details. Bried description of extrusion, injection molding, compression molding, resin transfer molding, pultrusion, reaction injection molding is presented and sheet molding compounds as well as bulk molding compounds are covered. The manual processes of hand lay-up and chopped fiber spray process are explained. Illustrations of products made from composites and simple animations are used to explain the processes.