From Industrial Revolution to Composites Innovation

Since the industrial revolution, innovation in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, construction and others has been attributed to the development of materials such as aluminum, steel, and iron. Today, growing populations and industries are further driving demand for high-performing, environmentally safe and lightweight materials. Composites materials meet these requirements and support new product design.

Composite materials are comprised of two or more distinct phases bonded together based on their individual physical and chemical properties which leads to their classifications in matrices. Composites have properties such as light weight, high strength-to-weight ratios, and resistance to chemicals, corrosion, and heat, among many others that cannot be achieved with a single material alone. Endless material combinations offer greater control over final performance characteristics. This freedom for ultimate material design opens opportunities for diverse applications across countless industries.

 

Rethinking Material Design with Composites

With the demand for environmentally safe and high performing materials from end-users, all members of the composites value chain — raw material manufacturers, semi-finished/finished material, component, structurers, and OEM/MRO — are rethinking how they innovate in making new materials with composites. This surge is a result of global changes such as:

  • Growing need for strong, lightweight materials for automotive, aerospace, and wind energy applications
  • Increasing demand for personal electronics like laptops and mobile phones
  • Advancements in 3D printing technologies for fiber reinforced composite tooling, ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), and woven fiber composites.

This shift comes with a new set of challenges as composite materials must be highly specified for their end use, requiring enhanced testing at every step of the value chain. Safety and performance cannot be compromised hence the need for high quality testing.

Quantithermal Instruments | Waters solutions enable research scientists and engineers to efficiently characterize and test materials without compromising product safety and performance throughout the composites value chain. Advanced techniques help you investigate physical, thermal, and mechanical properties of your composite matrix such as viscosity, cure time, creep, durability/fatigue, compression, tensile or flexural strength, and many other properties as you innovate for performance with safety in mind.