ABSTRACT
Those engineering materials loosely referred to as composites include a wide range of products, ranging from those used in high-strength aircraft components to road-building tarmacadam and concrete. Generally, composites are manufactured by mixing together two separate components, one of which forms a continuous matrix whilst the other, present either as particles or fi bres, provides the strength or hardness required in the composite material. Of these materials, fi bre-reinforced composites are the most signifi cant in the modern engineering world and the whole of the next chapter will be devoted to them. This chapter is devoted to, what can be termed, particle composites .
