Materials Science World Congress

Fibers and Composites account for much of material science, which highlights its remarkable balance in strength, flexibility, and lightweight properties. A composite is a material that contains two or more constituent materials which have one as a fiber and the other as a matrix material, where these fibers can be made out of carbon, glass, aramid, or natural source with a polymer, metal, or ceramic as the matrix. A hybrid composite, therefore, endows the best characteristic of each member to offer improved mechanical properties and better performance.

Among the most widely used types, FRCs are those where fibers, like carbon or glass, provide exceptional strength and stiffness, while the matrix holds all the fibers together and transfers the load between them. In general, it has a major strength-to-weight ratio specific to carbon. For these reasons, the applications have largely been in areas where weight reduction and high performance are critical, such as aerospace, automobiles, and sporting goods. Glass fibers are more economical in price and are used mainly in applications requiring corrosion resistance, for example, boat-building and infrastructure.

One of the main strengths of composites is their ability to tailor for specific applications. This makes composites suitable for any application where exact performance is needed by modifying the type of fiber, fiber orientation, and matrix material. These make composites suitable for high-performance applications where traditional materials fail to meet the desired specifications for durability or weight.

In addition to having favorable lightweightness, composites show good resistance to fatigue, making them suitable for cyclic load structures such as aircraft wings and blades for wind turbines, as well as some key parts in part of an automobile. Moreover, due to their biocompatibility and flexibility in design, they have been highly researched and examined for biomedical use, particularly for prosthetics and medical equipment.

Fibers and composites are the state-of-the-art factors in modern engineering, playing the most essential role that combines such unique properties considered indispensable in advanced industries from transportation to health care.