This article takes you through composite materials processing

What are composite materials?

Composite materials are suitable substitutes for aluminium, titanium and steel in some applications because they are light in weight, have good performance, are low-carbon and low in energy consumption. Composite materials can be classified into textile composite materials, green composite materials, biological composite materials and hybrid composite materials. Among all types of composite materials, green composite materials have attracted considerable interest due to their environmental friendliness, sustainability, and complete biodegradability in different environments without leaving any toxic residues. In addition, regulatory authorities have established strict guidelines and legislation to halt the production of environmentally harmful materials. In the composite materials industry, several global players operate using different processing technologies. These key players are collaborating with researchers to seek new ways to enhance the quality and production capacity of materials while reducing the price of products. The market for composite materials is growing rapidly and is expected to increase by 10% from 2017 to 2025. The leaders in the composite materials market are the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Polymer composite materials have been widely applied in fields such as automobiles, aerospace, construction and packaging. Their market is growing rapidly. Artificial fibers such as glass fiber and carbon fiber have been used as reinforcing materials to enhance the performance of polymer composites. However, composite materials that combine one or two fiber-reinforced polymers are also called "hybrid composites".

Classification of composite materials

Generally speaking, there are four types of composite materials:

-- Textile composite materials

-- Biological composite materials

-- Green composite materials

-- Mixed composite materials

1. Textile composite materials

Textile composites (also known as fiber-reinforced composites) have been widely used in the past few decades due to their unique properties. All types of reinforcing materials in polymer composite materials are textile materials