Mankind would not be able to work in the vacuum of space, re-enter planetary atmospheres or reach the depths of the deepest ocean without composites.

Similarly composites have enabled the construction of some of the most extreme buildings and vehicles ever made.

Bending aircraft wings.

Extreme bending of fishing rods.

Flexing wind turbine blades.

Space shuttle heat shield tiles

Asphalt - Also called bitumen or tarmac. This is what is used to create roads. It it bound together with aggregate stone taken from quarries. It is a composite because it contains 80% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 6% sulphur, and other chemical consituents.

Laying asphalt / tarmac. Note the lack of basic health and safety!

Steel Reinforced Concrete - Concrete has a high compression strength but a low tensile strength. This means that it doesn't like being 'pulled' or 'bent'. By adding in steel inside it as it is poured this increases its resistance to cracking.

Steel reinforced concrete is most frequently used to build the structural components of very large or tall buildings and bridges.

Pouring steel reinforced concrete.

Plywood is a man-made wood board. It is generally used in situations where increased strength is required but the aesthetic appearance (looks) of the product is not important. Each ply (layer) of the wood is arranged with the grain at 90 degrees to the one above it. This gives plywood very high bending strength. Some people find the layers of plywood attractive and design furniture to showcase the individual plies.

How marine plywood is made.

Fibre Cement is a composite of cellulose (plant based) fibres mixed with standard cement (the basic ingredient of concrete) to make a material which can make other shapes. Cement is made up of limestone, shells, and chalk combined with shale, clay, slate, blast furnace slag, silica sand, and iron ore. Fibre cement is often used to make roofing sheets.

What is fibre reinforced cement?

Linonium - is a relatively inexpensive floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (hence the name lino), pine resin, ground cork dust, wood flour, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate (chalk), placed over a canvas backing to helping it to roll and flex.

How linonium is made.

Bakelite - was the first ever plastic made from synthetic chemicals. it is made from a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde with asbestos or wood flour filler. Bakelite makes a very good electrical and heat insulator which made it perfect for early consumer products such as FM radios. Unfortunately it is prone to drying out and cracking. It is also very brittle.

The Bakelite revolution.

Glass Fibre is the material that makes up the structural component of fibreglass. It is woven into sheets which can be formed into intricate shapes. It is then held in-place with a synthetic matrix material, usually polyester or epoxy resin. Fibreglass became popular in the 1950's and 60's. It is often seen in objects like children's slides, caravans, boat hulls and other inexpensive structural objects.

How a fibreglass mould is made.

Basalt Fibre forms a convenient middle ground between fibreglass (inexpensive but relatively weak) and carbon fibre (very expensive but very high strength). It is formed from basalt fibres and then held in-place with the same epoxy or polyester resin as fibreglass. Basalt consists of the mineral materials plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine. Basalt occurs naturally in rocks and is mined.

How basalt fibre is made.

Aramid (Kevlar) fibres are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic materials. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for body armour and in bicycle tyres, marine hull reinforcement, and also as an asbestos substitute.

What is aramid?

Carbotanium is a trade-name of a material developed by Modena Design (the industrial design arm of the Italian car company Pagani). It is a weave of the metallic element titanium of and carbon fibre. Both fibres have matched yield strengths so fail at the same point (both materials are as strong as each other).

How it's made - Carbotanium.

Carbon Fibre is a weave of carbon monofibres. Carbon is one of the most abundant (readily available) elements in the universe. It is incredibly light and incredibly strong. It is also able to withstand relatively high bending and torsion (twisting) forces without failing. Carbon fibre is generally very expensive and must be manufactured in specialist facilities with specialist knowledge and equipment.

How carbon fibre is made

Carbon Nanotube Metal Matrix -Carbon nanotubes are curious materials. Considered very new, they consist of tube structures only a single atom thick. They are incredibly light, flexible and can then be used to make a rigid, strong matrix structure inside of another material. This technology is presently very expensive.

Is this the material of the future?