1.

Introduction

Composite materials are made from two or more constituent materials with
significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined,
produce a material with characteristics different from the individual
components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within
the finished structure.
Most composites have two constituent materials:
- Matrix
- Reinforcement
Reinforcement :The role of reinforcement in composite materials is primarily
to add mechanical properties to the material such as strength and stiffness
Reinforcements basically come in three forms:
Particulate
Discontinuous fiber
Continuous fiber

Reinforcements become fibers when one dimension becomes long compared to

others. Discontinuous reinforcements (chopped fibers, milled fibers) vary in
length from a few millimeters to a few centimeters.

Matrix:
The role of the matrix is to bind the reinforcement together so that the applied
stress is distributed among the reinforcement and to protect the surface of the
reinforcement from being damaged.
Composites are classified according to their matrix phase:
Polymer matrix composites (PMC's)
Ceramic matrix composites (CMC's)
Metal matrix composites (MMC's)

Composites are made by combining two or more natural or artificial materials to

maximize their useful properties and minimize their weaknesses. One of the oldest
and
best-known
composites, glass-fiber
reinforced
plastic
(GRP),
combines glass fibers (which are strong but brittle) with plastic (which is flexible)
to make a composite material that is tough but not brittle. Composites are typically
used in place of metals because they are equally strong but much lighter.
Most composites consist of fibers of one material tightly bound into another
material called a matrix. The matrix binds the fibers together somewhat like
an adhesive and makes them more resistant to external damage, whereas the fibers
make the matrix stronger and stiffer and help it resist cracks and fractures. Fibers
and matrix are usually (but not always) made from different types of materials. The
fibers are typically glass, carbon, silicon carbide, or asbestos, while the matrix is
usually plastic, metal, or a ceramic material (though materials such
as concrete may also be used).

Composite materials may someday have big advantages over steel in

automobile manufacturing. Composites are being considered to make lighter,
safer and more fuel-efficient vehicles. A composite is composed of a highperformance fiber (such as carbon or glass) in a matrix material (epoxy

polymer) that when combined provides enhanced properties compared with the
individual materials by themselves. Carbon-fiber composites weigh about onefifth as much as steel, but are as good or better in terms of stiffness and
strength. They also do not rust or corrode like steel or aluminum, and they
could significantly increase vehicle fuel economy by reducing vehicle weight
by as much as 60 percent, according to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL). With composite materials, we get high strength-to-weight and
stiffness-to-weight ratios, as well as excellent energy-absorbing capability per
mass, says Dan Adams, professor of mechanical engineering at the University
of Utah who is collaborating with ORNL on the development of test methods
for automotive composites. Steel is strong and inexpensive, which is why its
the material of choice today. But composites can be designed tobe strong and
light to provide better safety and fuel efficiency. Adams says that the strength
and stiffness factors are why composites are currently used in aerospace
applications, which also require a material that is extremely light. And
compared to single-layered steel in cars, multiple-layer composite laminates can
be designed to absorb more energy in a crash. However, the use of these
materials in the automotive industry has been very limited partly because of the
costs associated with the materials and manufacturing, he says. Adams and his
associates are addressing these issues, along with design safety, as they develop
test methods and assess candidate composites for automotive applications.
2. Engineering for Crashworthiness
Adams research focuses on the mechanics of sandwich composites, which are a
special class of composite structures made by attaching two thin composite
facesheets to a thick, low-density core of balsa wood or foam. Sandwich
composites are of interest for automotive floor and roof applications. Nearly
two decades ago, Adams began studying how to make sandwich composites
more damage tolerant, where the structure can still meet its load requirements
after it has sustained some type of initial damage. Investigating the mechanics
of damage tolerance required understanding the failure progression (the types
and locations of failure), says Adams. It required that we look carefully at
what was happening after there was already an initial failure. Eventually
Adams was selected to lead the U.S. Automotive Composite Consortiums first

research investigation into the crashworthiness (the ability to protect

occupants in a crash) of sandwich composites. For me, crashworthiness was a
natural extension of damage tolerance, he says. We just kept applying load to
an already failed sandwich panel and examined how it crushed. Conventional
sandwich composites would quickly come apart with the facesheets debonding
and the remaining core buckling or being pushed aside with little energy being
absorbed. With the proper design, Adams says that composites can meet or
even exceed safety requirements in a crash because they can be designed to
absorb significantly more energy than traditional metallic metals when crushed.
Metals absorb energy in a crush by yielding, whereas composites typically
crush in a more brittle manner, he says. Energy is absorbed through repeated
failure of the material. The ideal case would be the composite structure being
broken into tiny pieces where the crush occurs, but everything else is intact. The
materials have to be designed to fail in a controlled manner. Already the initial
sandwich design Adams and his students worked on a few years ago has made
its way into the Chevrolet Corvette. Adams is continuing to develop test
methods for assessing crashworthiness of composites with organizations such as
ORNL and Engenuity Limited, an engineering consulting company based in the
U.K. No accepted test methods exist and we need them to screen materials for
crashworthiness as well as to provide the required experimental results for
validating computational modeling methods, he says. In 2010, Adams was
selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to write a 100-page white
paper on the current status and research needs for plastic and composite
intensive vehicles. The government is hoping to facilitate their safe deployment
by 2020. It was really exciting to have the opportunity to identify what needs
to be done in the next ten years to make automotive composites a reality,
Adams says.
3. Lowering Costs for Automotive Composites
Affordability is an important issue in vehicle manufacturing, which includes
factoring in the costs associated with a cars complete life-cycleincluding
manufacturing, operating and disposal costs. The issue with todays
composites is that they have been developed for aerospace applications where
cost is not as critical, says Dan Adams, professor of mechanical engineering.

Pound for pound, material costs of carbon fiber composites are at least 20 times
as much as steel, and the automotive industry is unlikely to use them until the
price of carbon fiber drops significantly. The processing of carbon fibers is too
expensive and slow, says Adams. The raw carbon material is converted to
carbon fibers using thermal pyrolysis, a slow, energy-consuming process that is
combined with stressing to achieve a high percentage of carbon with the proper
fiber tension. The raw material, the energy needed to heat it to make fibers, and
the required equipment all contribute to the high cost. As a result, carbon-fiber
composites cannot yet compete economically with steel in the auto industry.
The development of low-cost carbon fiber is an active research area with great
promise, says Adams. Also the development of low-cost manufacturing
methods for automotive composites is receiving a lot of attention. There are
less expensive ways of manufacturing composite automobile parts that also
reduce the number of joints and fasteners. We could make these materials very
affordable.

Basics of composite materials

Why are they more useful in automotive than metals

Composites are not just useful in making things fly. Cars of the future must be
safer, more economical, and more environmentally friendly, and composites could
help achieve all three. Although composites such as GRP have been used in the
manufacture of automobile parts since the 1950s, most cars are still made
from steel. Engineers believe carefully designed composites could cut the weight
of a typical steel car by as much as 40 percent, increasing fuel economy by as
much as a quarter, yet maintaining body strength and crash-resistance. Hightemperature ceramic-matrix composites are also making possible cleaner-burning,
more fuel-efficient engines for both cars and trucks.
Composites are increasingly used in place of metals in machine tools. Apart from
being lighter and stronger, they can offer better performance than metals at high
temperatures and do not develop potentially dangerous weaknesses such as
fractures and fatigue.

History of use of composite materials in automotive

1940s
By 1947 a fully composite body automobile had been made and tested. This car was reasonably
successful and led to the development of the 1953 Corvette, which was made using fiberglass
preforms impregnated with resin and molded in matched metal dies. During this period, several
methods for molding were developed. Eventually two methods, compression molding of sheet
molding compound (SMC) and bulk molding compound (BMC), would emerge as the dominant
forms of molding for the automotive and other industries.
1950s
In early 1950s, manufacturing methods such included pultrusion, vacuum bag molding, and
large-scale filament winding were developed. Filament winding became the basis for the largescale rocket motors that propelled exploration of space in the 1960s and beyond. Pultrusion is
used today in the manufacture of linear components such as ladders and moldings.
1960s
In 1961, first carbon fiber was patented, but it was several years before carbon fiber composites
were commercially available. Carbon fibers improved thermoset part stiffness to weight ratios,
thereby opening even more applications in aerospace, automotive, sporting goods, and
consumer goods. The marine market was the largest consumer of composite materials in the
1960s.
1970s and 1980s
Fiber development in the late 1960s led to fibers made from ultra high molecular weight
polyethylene in the early 1970s. Progress in advanced fibers led to breakthroughs in aerospace

components, structural and personal armor, sporting equipment, medical devices, and many
other applications. New and improved resins continued to expand composites market,
especially into higher temperature ranges and corrosive applications. In the 1970s, the
automotive market surpassed marine as the number one market a position it retains today.
Mar-Bal, Inc. was formed in 1970 and began their journey of becoming the most integrated
Thermoset Composites Solution Provider of today. Mar-Bal began small and custom molded
components for the Electrical (e.g. breakers), Motor Assembly (e.g. housings) and Small
Appliance (e.g. waffle makers) industries.
1990s and 2000s
By the mid 1990s, composites hit mainstream manufacturing and construction. As a cost effective
replacement to traditional materials like metal and engineered thermoplastics, Industrial Designers
and Engineers began specifying thermoset composites for various components within the Appliance,
Construction, Electrical and Transportation industries.
Consumers came into contact with composite materials every day from Handles and Knobs on their
gas driven ranges to beautifully stained entry doors of their homes and utilized within electrical
infrastructure for the safe and effective delivery of electricity.
Composites began to impact the electrical transmission market with products such as pole line
hardware, cross-arms and insulators.
In the mid-2000s, the development of the 787 Dreamliner validated composites for high-strength and
rigid applications.
Continued development of finish technology, like PVD and THERMTIAL, grew the number of
applications in automotive, appliances and consumer products industries. Composites were just
beginning to find their way into nanotechnologies.

Examples of parts made of composite materials used in automotive

When it comes to using composites in the production of parts for vehicles, a
variety of materials as well as chemicals are combined to produce a molding which
is not only strong, but can withstand the forces of wind and other elements.
The use of composite materials in vehicles has become extremely popular if not
necessary in producing vehicles that can withstand the speed they are pushed to.
Composites are popular in their use in vehicles. They are lighter, more flexible and
have added benefits that steel cant offer. Interestingly, the first car produced using
composite materials was created in 1957.

In the early 1990s numerous super-cars like the Jaguar XJ220 and the Bugatti
EB110 used a variety of composite materials for their body structure. The Jaguar
XJ220 used an aluminum mixture while the Bugatti EB110 used a combination of
aluminum, carbon panels as well as steel.
Carbon Fiber Chassis is a popular method of constructing some of the coolest cars
on the block. While some cars that use this method are not solely used for racing,
their body styles and composite makeup make street legal cars like the Mclaren

MP4-12C a popular choice for high end car enthusiast. While the price for
producing these cars and the sticker price are somewhat high, these cool cars are
sure to draw a crowd.

Also BMW goes for composites. The BMW M6 has an overall weight of only 1710
kg. The composite roof is 6 kg lighter than a conventional steel roof.

In the BMW M3 model, the aluminium bumper beam has been replaced by a
glass/polyamide bumper beam. A weight reduction from 7 kg to 3.1 kg was
realized, and its crash performance was three to four times better than the metal
beam.

Glass/polyamide bumper beam for BMW M3

BMW M6 with carbon fibre roof

Future trends
Composites research is attracting grants from governments, manufacturers and universities. These
investments will find new fibers and resins to create even more applications for composites.
Environmentally friendly resins will incorporate recycled plastics and bio-based polymers as
composites the feed the demand for stronger, lighter and environmentally friendly products.

4. Conclusions
The automotive industry today is a very competitive industry. In short, plastics meet
the challenges of an industry whose demands are greater than ever. While motorists
want high performance cars with greater comfort, safety, fuel efficiency, style and
lower prices, society demands lower pollution levels and increased recovery at end
of life. Continual innovation is a key feature in the use of plastics in cars. Plastics will
continue in the next decade to help designers and engineers to innovate and take
car performance further.

5.

List of References