Tailoring Composite Materials

Introduction
One of the advantage composite materials is the ability of the
material is the strength can be directed in a certain direction that we
want. This is called Tailoring Properties and this is one special
properties of composites as compared to other conventional material.
Beside strong, rigid, and lightweight composites also have high
corrosion resistance and has resilience also to dynamic loads.
Bellow are several types of processes Tailoring Composite
Materials .

1. Tailoring by Component Selection

1.1 Polymer-Matrix Composites
Epoxy is by far the most widely used polymer matrix for
structural composites. This is due to the strong adhesiveness of epoxy,
in addition to the long history of its use in composites. Epoxy resins are
characterized by having two or more epoxide groups permolecule.
An epoxy is a thermosetting polymer that cures upon mixing
with a catalyst (also known as a hardener). This curing process is a
reaction that involves polymerization and crosslinking.

1.2 Cement-Matrix Composites

Component selection for cement-matrix
composites involves the useof admixtures, which
are additives included in the cement mix. These
additives serve various functions, as described
below:

 Water reducing agent a minor additive to increase the workability of the

mix.
Polymer (Such as latex) to decrease liquid permeability and bond
strength.
Fine particles (such as silica fume) to decrease liquid permeability, bond
strength and drying shrinkage, and to increase the modulus and the
abrasion resistance.
Short fiber (such as steel fiber) to increase the flexural toughness.
Continuous fibers are not suitable for inclusion in a cement mix,
although they can be applied prior to cement pouring and can serve as a
reinforcement. Both processing and material costs are high, In addition,
penetration of the cement mix into the small spaces between microfibers is
difficult. On the other hand, macroscopic steel rebars are similar in shape to
continuous microfibers and are commonly used to reinforce concrete.

1.3 Metal-Matrix Composites

Metal-Matrix Composite is composite material with at least two
constituent parts, one being a metal necessarily, the other material
may be a different metal or another material, such as ceramic, carbon,
or organic compound.
Metal-Matrix Composites usually consist of a low-density metal,
such as aluminum or magnesium, reinforced with particulate or fibers
of a ceramic material, such as silicon carbide or graphite. Compared
with unreinforced metals, MMCs offer higher specific strength and
stiffness, higher operating temperature, and greater wear resistance, as
well as the opportunity to tailor these properties for a particular
application.

Metals and ceramics tend

to have very different in their
properties, as shown in Table 6.2.
Metals are electrically and
thermally conductive. The thermal
conductivities of aluminum and
copper (Table 6.2) are higher than
those of any of the ceramics listed,
while the electrical resistivities of
aluminum and copper aremuch
lower (by many orders of
magnitude) than those of any of
the ceramics listed. However, most
metals exhibit a high coefficient of
thermal expansion (CTE) and a low
elastic modulus compared to
ceramics.

Due to its low cost and high elastic modulus, silicon carbide is the filler most
commonly used to reinforce metals. SiC is also used as an abrasive (e.g., in
sandpaper). There are numerous polymorphs of SiC, but the most common
polymorph is -SiC,which has a hexagonal crystal structure (similar towurtzite).A
less common polymorph is -SiC, which exhibits the zinc blende crystal structure.
Silicon carbide is available in particle and whisker forms. A whisker is a short
fiber that can be essentially a single crystal.

These
picture
explain
SEMphotographs of mechanically polished
sections of aluminum-matrix composites
containing 10 vol% siliconcarbide whiskers. a
High-magnification view, b low-magnification
view. The whiskers are essentially randomly
oriented; the whisker diameter is 1.4 mand
the whisker length is 18.6 m.

Compared
to
silicon
carbide,
titaniumdiboride has a higher modulus but a
lower thermal conductivity (Table 6.2). The high
modulus makes titanium diboride a highly
effective reinforcing material. The addition of
TiB2 to a metal greatly increases the stiffness,
hardness and wear resistance and decreases the
CTE, while it reduces the electrical and thermal
conductivity much less than the addition of most
other ceramic fillers.
These picture explain Optical microscope
photographs of a copper-matrix composite
containing: a 15 vol% TiB2 platelets; b 60 vol%
TiB2 platelets.

2. Tailoring by Interface Modification

2.1 Interface Bond Modification
a. General Concepts
Effective reinforcement requires good bonding between the filler and the matrix,
especially for short fibers. For an ideally unidirectional composite (i.e., one containing
continuous fibers all aligned in the same direction) containing fibers with a modulus that is
much higher than that of the matrix, the longitudinal tensile strength is quite independent
of the fibermatrix bonding, but the transverse tensile strength and the flexural strength
(for bending in the longitudinal or transverse directions) increase with increasing fiber
matrix bonding.On the other hand, excessive fibermatrix bonding can cause a composite
with a brittle matrix (e.g., carbon and ceramics) to become more brittle, as the strong
fibermatrix bonding causes cracks to propagate linearly in the direction perpendicular to
the fibermatrix interface without being deflected to propagate along this interface. In the
case of a composite with a ductile matrix (e.g., metals and polymers), a crack initiating in
the brittle fiber tends to be blunted when it reaches the ductile matrix, even when the
fibermatrix bonding is strong.

b. Filler Surface Treatment

The surface treatment of a filler is usually a
valuable method of improving the bonding between the filler and
thematrix. If the filler is carbon fiber, surface treatments involve oxidation
treatments and the use of coupling agents, wetting agents, and/or sizings
(coatings). Carbon fibers need treatment for both thermosetting and
thermoplastic polymers. As the processing temperature is usually higher for
thermoplastic polymers than for thermosetting polymers, the treatment
must be stable to a higher temperature (300400C) when a thermoplastic
polymer is used.

c.

Use of an Organic Coupling Agent

1. Organic Coupling of Inorganic Components
The use of an organic molecule (known as a coupling agent; also known as a molecular
tether) to covalently link an inorganic particle and an inorganic matrix enhances the bonding
between the inorganic particle and the matrix, thus resulting in a nano composite of increased
strength. The chosen molecule must have functional groups at its two ends that are able to
react with the surface of the inorganic particle and the matrix material. Silane coupling agents
are most commonly used as the organic molecules. An example is a nanocomposite with
cement as the matrix and silica fume as the inorganic particles.
2. Organic Coupling of an Inorganic filler and a Polymer Matrix
An organic coupling agent can be used to improve the bond between an inorganic filler and
a polymer matrix. For example, a silane coupling agent is effective at enhancing the bond
between boron nitride particles and an epoxy matrix. Boron nitride (BN) is a ceramic material,
with some ionic character in the covalent bond between boron and nitrogen.

2.2

Interface Composition Modification

a.

FillerMatrix Interface Composition Modification

CeramicMetal and CarbonMetal Interface Composition Modification
Due to the low CTEs of ceramics compared to metals, ceramic fillers are commonly
used in metal-matrix composites in order to achieve a composite with a low CTE. However,
liquid metals tend not to wet ceramic surfaces well (i.e., a liquid metal tends to ball up on a
ceramic surface), thus making the liquid metal infiltration process difficult. To alleviate this
problem, the ceramic surface may be modified by applying a coating that the liquid metal can
wet sufficiently well.
Reinforcement-Cement Interface Composition Modification
The bond strength can be enhanced by adding polymeric admixtures such as latex (in
the formof an aqueous particulate dispersion) and methylcellulose (in the form of an aqueous
solution, since methylcellulose is water soluble) to the cement or concrete mix. The polymer not
only resides in the cement matrix but it also lines the fiber cement interface, thereby enhancing
the fibermatrix bond. The bond strength can also be enhanced by adding a fine particulate to
the mix, such as silica fume, which is around 0.1m in particle size. The fine particles reduce the
pore size in the cementmatrix and at the reinforcementcement interface. The pore size
reduction at the interface results in the strengthening of the interface.

b. Interlaminar Interface Composition Modification

For continuous fiber polymer-matrix composites, the interface between adjacent laminae
of fibers is a polymer-rich region. It is the weak link in the composite, as shown by the fact that
delamination is a common type of damage in these composites. The composition of this interface
can be modified by filling this region with a nanofiller, as illustrated in Fig. 6.13.

Figure6.13. Thermal conductivity of cross ply

carbon fiber polymer matrix composites with
and without various interlaminar interface
modifications. WO without carbon black and
without vehicle. VE with vehicle and without
carbon black. The vehicle is ethylene glycol
monoethyl ether. The carbon black wt.% refers
to the concentration of carbon black in the
dispersion involving the vehicle. The dispersion is
applied onto the fiber epoxy prepreg surface
prior to consolidation of the laminae to form a
composite.

2.3

Interface Microstructure Modification

Chemical methods tend to provide microscopic roughness (low roughness,
with a high density of hillocks in the resulting topography), whereas mechanical
methods tend to provide macroscopic roughness (high roughness, with a low
density of hillocks in the resulting topography). Both a high roughness and a high
density of hillocks promote mechanical interlocking. Thus, both types of methods
have their advantages and disadvantages. Chemical methods are usually used for
microscopic reinforcements (e.g., carbon fiber), whereas mechanical methods are
usually used for macroscopic reinforcements (e.g., steel rebars).

3. Tailoring by Surface Modification

The coating of carbon materials to protect them from oxidation
is used in this section to illustrate methods of surface composition
modification. In the absence of oxygen, carbon materials have excellent
high-temperature resistance. For example, the carboncarbon
composites used for the nose cap of a Space Shuttle can withstand
1,600C, whereas more advanced carboncarbon composites can
withstand 2,200C. In contrast, superalloys can only withstand 1,200C
and also have high densities.

4. Tailoring by Microstructure Control

a. Crystallinity Control
There are two kinds of crystallinity control, first is crystallinity control for
polymer-matrix composites and crystallinity control for carbon-matrix composites.
b. Porosity Control
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a
material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0
and 1, or as a percentage between 0 and 100%.
The porosity canbe reduced by tailoring the process and composition. For
silicon carbide whisker copper-matrix composites, the use of the coated filler
method of powder metallurgy in place of the admixture method of powder
metallurgy for composite fabrication reduces the porosity at a given filler volume
fraction, as shown in Fig. 1.10.

 Figure 1.10. Variation in the

porosity, hardness and compressive
yield strength of silicon carbide
whisker copper-matrix composites
fabricated by powder metallurgy.
Circles, coated filler method.
Triangles, admixture method.

5. Tailoring Organic Inorganic Nanoscale

Hybridization
Nanocomposites with Organic Solid Nanoparticles Dispersed in an
Inorganic Matrix.
Nanocomposites with dispersed organic nanoparticles in an
inorganic matrix can be attractive for toughening and porosity
reduction, since the organic component is relatively tough and its
nanosize may allow it to fill the pores that tend to be present in an
inorganic material.

 Nanocomposites with an Organic Component Dispersed

InorganicMatrixWhere the Organic Component is Added as a Liquid

in

an

Instead of using an organic component in the form of particles, one can use an
organic component in the form of a liquid solution obtained by dissolving the organic
component in a solvent.

Methylcellulose is a water-soluble polymer and water is needed for a cement mix

anyway. Thus, the water used to dissolve the methylcellulose can be counted as some or all
of the water in the cement mix. Table 6.9 shown us that Methylcellulose can make effect in
the tensile strength, tensile modulus , and tensile ductility.

 Nanocomposites Made by Inorganic Component Exfoliation and Subsequent

Organic Component Adsorption
In general, adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid
accumulates on the surface of a solid (adsorbent), forming a film of molecules or
atoms (the adsorbate).
The overall process is known as exfoliationadsorption. When clay (such
asmontmorillonite) is used as the inorganic component, the platelets are known as
nanoclay, and each nanoplatelet tends to consist of a silicate monolayer. The
modified clay is known as organoclay, which is then immersed in a liquid solution of
the organic component (or its resin) that serves as the matrix for the resulting
composite

TERIMA KASIH