Recent Developments in Polymer Consolidated Composites

Department of Engineering, University of Waikato Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) are used extensively in industry, varying from high performance structural composites used in the aerospace industry, to products such as insulation boards used in the construction industry. At either end of this spectrum, the matrix could be regarded to have a different functionality. In high performance composites, the polymer forms a continuous phase around the reinforcement, whereas, in products such as particle boards, the matrix may no longer be continuous. Therefore, PMCs could be considered to be divided into continuous polymer matrix composites (CPMCs) and polymer consolidated composites (PCCs), the latter referring to where commonly the matrix might be regarded as simply a binder. Although the field of PMCs is well established, this has commonly not been extended to PCCs. This paper evaluates recent literature on materials used in PCCs, the factors that influence their behavior and how they can be defined as a subset of PMCs.

Key Words: polymer–matrix composite, fiber/matrix bond, microstructure, percolation.

First published on September 20, 2007, doi:10.1177/0731684407079426

Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 2007;26:1607.

A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2007


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