FRP COMPOSITES - THe Unique Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced Polymers - A cured thermosetting resin without any reinforcement is glass-like in nature and appearance, but often very brittle. By adding a reinforcing fiber such as carbon fiber, glass, or aramid, the properties are vastly improved. Additionally, with reinforcing fiber, a composite can have anisotropic properties. Meaning, the composite can be engineered to have different properties in different directions depending on the orientation of the fiber reinforcement. A composite material, with anisotropic properties, can have additional reinforcement in the direction of stresses, and this can create more efficient structures at lighter weights.

...............................................................................................

FRP Composites

Properties of FRP Composites

THe Unique Mechanical Properties of Fiber Reinforced Polymers

by Todd Johnson 

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites are used in a wide variety of applications.

Their mechanical properties provide unique benefits to the product they are molded into.

FRP composite materials possess superior mechanical properties including:

·     Impact resistance

·     Strength

·     Stiffness

·     Flexibility

·     Ability to carry loads

When designing products out of FRP materials, engineers use sophisticated composite material software which calculates the known properties of given the composite.

Typical tests used to measure the mechanical properties of FRP composites include:

·    Shear stiffness

·    Tensile

·    Flexible Modulus

·    Impact

Components of FRP Composite Materials

The two major components of an FRP composite material is resin and reinforcement.

A cured thermosetting resin without any reinforcement is glass-like in nature and appearance, but often very brittle.

By adding a reinforcing fiber such as carbon fiber, glass, or aramid, the properties are vastly improved.

Additionally, with reinforcing fiber, a composite can have anisotropic properties. Meaning, the composite can be engineered to have different properties in different directions depending on the orientation of the fiber reinforcement.

Aluminum, steel and other metals have isotropic properties, meaning, equal strength in all directions.

A composite material, with anisotropic properties, can have additional reinforcement in the direction of stresses, and this can create more efficient structures at lighter weights.

For example, a pultruded rod having all fiberglass reinforcement in the same parallel direction could have tensile strength upwards of 150,000 PSI.

Whereas a rod with the same area of random chopped fiber would only have tensile strength around 15,000 PSI.

Another difference between FRP composites and metals is the reaction to impact.

When metals receive impact, they can yield or dent. While FRP composites have no yield point and will not dent.

Todd Johnson

·   Regional Sales Manager for Composites One, a distributor of composite materials.

·   B.S. in Business Management from University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business

·   Business Development Manager for Ebert Composites Corporation

Experience

Todd Johnson is a former writer for ThoughtCo, who wrote about plastics and composite materials for 2-1/2 years between 2010 and 2013. He is a Regional Sales Manager at Composites One, a composite materials distributor in San Diego, CA. Johnson provides support to the Greater San Diego manufacturers of fiber reinforced and polymer products. He regularly attends composite industry trade shows including JEC, ACMA, SME, and SAMPE. In 2008 he presented at the Global Pultrusion Conference in Baltimore, MD. Previously, Todd spent six years as the Business Development Manager for Ebert Composites Corporation. 

Education

B.S., Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services - the University of Colorado-Boulder's Leeds School of Business; attended Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.  

Todd Johnson​

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/properties-of-frp-composites-820515