Book Review: An Introduction to Composite Materials
Many composites books have a title similar to this one, so it has become difficult to distinguish the books just by their titles. This book is primarily intended to be a teaching aid for undergraduate courses. As the authors state in the preface,
...its main objective is to provide...a physical understanding of the properties of composite materials as a basis for the improvement of the properties, manufacturing processes and design of products made from these materials.
To meet this goal, the authors focus on the physical meaning behind the formulas. Although detailed equations are presented, few if any derivations are shown, and often the full set of equations needed for an analysis are not presented. Thus, this book cannot stand alone as an analytical reference.
However, if you want to know why composites behave the way they do, this is an excellent reference. The authors cover both micromechanics and macromechanics, but almost all discussions return to micromechanics. For example, failure modes for single plies are explained at the micromechanical level. The discussion turns briefly to laminate failure criteria (most of which are macromechanical), then returns to micromechanics to show how failure initiates and propagates through a laminate.
The materials covered include polymer, metal, and ceramic matrices reinforced by particles, short fibers, and long fibers. All materials receive roughly equal coverage.
Ample figures and illustrations help explain the more difficult concepts. A pictorial representation of tensor and engineering shear strain makes the difference between the two very clear. An explanation of why the rule of mixtures can be used for the longitudinal modulus but not the transverse modulus is aided by a photoelastic image of a fiber/matrix model (the answer is a nonuniform strain field in the transverse direction). Finally, a large number of SEM micrographs are used to show various failure modes at the individual fiber level.
After reading this book, you will have a better understanding of how composites work, but you won't have enough detailed information to rigorously apply that information. For that reason, the authors provide extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter. Sometimes these are broken down by the individual topics covered in each chapter, and sometimes all chapter topics are lumped together. The only chapters in which I would like to see more detail within the book itself are the final two on fabrication and applications.
Details: An Introduction to Composite Materials, by D. Hull
and T.W. Clyne, published by
Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-521-38190-8.
1. General Introduction; 2. Fibres and matrices; 3. Fibre
architecture; 4. Elastic deformation of long-fibre composites;
5. Elastic deformation of laminates; 6. Stresses and strains in
short-fibre composites; 7. The interface region; 8. Strength of
composites; 9. Toughness of composites; 10. Thermal behaviour of
composites; 11. Fabrication; 12. Applications