The name given to a new material prepared by combining two or more materials with different chemical, physical or biological properties is composite.
Composite raw materials assembled after melting, boiling or other process used to join the materials are not easily distinguished from each other.
The raw materials of a new material, which is now united, work together to cover the weaknesses of each other and to show other unique new features.
Most composites contain two main materials. One of these main materials is called matrix, ie binding material. They are used to hold together the main ingredient called reinforcement or carrier.
Natural composites
Composite material often comes out in the nature. You can see both in animals and plants.
If wood is examined, you can see that it is an example of composite material. Stiff structures called lignin and cellulosic fibers (polymer structure) are trapped together with structures that accumulate on cellulose cells.
Cellulose is also found in cotton. However, these cellulose fibers in cotton without lignin are very weak. Because of this cotton fiber fiber can be easily separated.
Bones in our body are good examples of composite material. Scientific name Hydroxyapatite is a combination of a calcium salt and a soft and elastic protein material called collagen, which is a bone composite material. Collagen is also found in our hair and nails. But if we were not with hydroxyapatite, we could not have bones that support our body.
Early Composites
Besides nature, people have been composites for thousands of years. The earliest example is the composite building material brick. Mankind has produced the first early composite building materials by mixing the mud and straw together. Plain mud can be given a desired shape by drying. But even if the slurry has good compressive strength, if you try to bend it breaks easily due to the weak tensile strength. Samana can not give a brick shape alone. If you try to stretch the straw is very strong. But you can easily break it. When combined with sludge, you will be able to produce the first brick composite material that is a mixture of squeeze and break resistant mud and straw.
Another ancient composite building material is concrete.
Concrete is one of the oldest composite materials formed in the combination of cement and sand (you can include small stones or pebbles). It ensured that the glorious structures of ancient Roman civilization emerged.
Mankind recently found a way to increase the tensile strength of this composite material by adding concrete bars and strands of concrete.
Modern Composites
The best example of modern composites is fiberglass. It is widely used in the construction of many products from roofing materials, façade coatings, buses, caravans, trailers, boat interior and exterior coatings, sporting goods to hygiene panels.
The reinforcing or carrier material is usually glass in the form of fine yarns which are made into a kind of fabric.
Glass in itself is very strong, but it is broken and broken if it is twisted sharply. The plastic matrix (resin) keeps the glass fibers together and prevents the material from being damaged by distributing and sharing the forces acting on it.
With the use of carbon fiber instead of glass, it has become possible to produce stronger and lighter materials in new composite materials. However, these materials are quite expensive compared to fiberglass materials.
At affordable prices it is not possible to produce and shape on very large scales like GRP (glass reinforced plastic) sheets.
A number of new materials and construction techniques that can be added to the fiberglass construction allow this modern composite material to produce new GRP composite building materials with infinite possibilities and at very reasonable costs.