Class Details
- Class Name:
- Introduction to Composites
- Audience:
- Composite technicians, engineers, quality assurance inspectors, procurement personnel, and anyone interested in advanced composites.
- Duration:
- 2 Day Course
- Language:
- English
Learning Objectives
To provide the student with a fundamental understanding of advanced composite materials, properties, and manufacturing processes and methods used in fabricating and inspecting these types of structures.
Outline At-a-Glance
- Composite technology overview: history, recent developments, and an introduction to industry terminology
- Advantages and disadvantages of composite materials
- Health and safety concerns
- Fibers: properties of glass, carbon, Kevlar®, boron, and quartz fibers
- Fiber forms: non woven, unidirectional, bidirectional, and multi-axial fabrics & forms
- Resins: thermoset and thermoplastic resin matrices
- Laminate design fundamentals: quasi-isotropic, balanced, and symmetric laminate properties
- Core materials: foam, honeycomb, and balsa core materials
- Molding methods: contact molding (wet and prepreg hand layup), resin/film infusion processing, pultrusion, filament winding, tape laying, and fiber placement technologies
- Vacuum bagging materials and techniques: oven vs. autoclave issues
- Curing thermoset resins: understanding viscoelastic properties and determining cure of thermoset resins
- Service environment concerns: lightning strike protection, corrosion concerns, chemical and environmental exposure issues
- Non-destructive inspection methods and techniques: visual inspection, tap testing, radiography, thermography, holographic laser interferometry, laser shearography, and ultrasonic A & C scans