Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites

Fiber reinforced composite materials are so integral to today,s product manufacture, a world without this innovative technology is impossible to imagine. Now routinely used in such high-tech fields as electronics, automobiles, aircraft, and space vehicles, they are also essential to everyday staples of modern life: containers and piping, sporting goods, and appliances. And no wonder. They offer outstanding mechanical properties, versatility of design, light weight, corrosion and impact resistance, excellent fatigue strength-as well as ease of fabrication. This Second Edition of the reference classic, the standard text for composite materials courses worldwide, offers an unparalleled look at this important class of engineering materials. It offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject-from the mechanics, materials, and analysis of fiber composites, to their fabrication, characterization, and performance in practical design applications-in a single, newly expanded volume. Enhanced coverage, designed to provide a view of the total composites industry, includes a new chapter on fabrication methods with an emphasis on reinforced plastics, new material on experimental methods and fracture mechanics, as well as expanded discussion of predictive techniques, and micromechanics analysis. The balance of the text includes an up-to-date discussion of:computer analysis of laminatesdamage identification using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniquesdamage due to low-velocity impactinfluence of moisture on performance of polymer matrix compositesstress corrosion of glass fibers and glass reinforced plasticsThe new revisions in format-numbering of sections and subsections, plus additional subject headings-have made the Second Edition an even more accessible reference for students in mechanics and mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as professional design engineers. The wealth of exercise problems at the end of each chapter serves to enhance comprehension of the material-both in the classroom and at home. New features include a survey of commercially available computer software packages for calculating lamina and laminate properties, as well as a listing of the properties of commercial composites. Fiber composites, the fruit of pure innovative science, have brought countless improvements to our day-to-day lives. And no other reference to date describes the groundwork for this phenomenon with such clarity and depth. Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites, Second Edition is an informative look at one of engineering science's most fascinating frontiers.Agarwal, Bhagwan D. is the author of 'Analysis and Performance of Fiber Composites', published 1990 under ISBN 9780471511526 and ISBN 0471511528.