ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: A composite is a material made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different properties, but when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. These materials are stronger, lighter or economical. Composites are generally used for buildings, bridges and structures, such as boat hulls, swimming pool panels, race car bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, storage tanks, cultured marble sinks and countertops. Composite laminates are an assembly of layers of fibrous composite materials which can be joined to provide required engineering properties including in-plane stiffness, bending stiffness, strength and coefficient of thermal expansion. Layers of different materials may be used, resulting in a hybrid laminate. The individual layers are generally orthotropic or transversely isotropic. The theories used for explaining the behavior of isotropic materials cannot be applied for laminated composites. With the laminate exhibiting anisotropic or quasi-isotropic properties, various other theories were applied in order to reveal their behavior. In this paper, application of laminated composites in the engineering field, and various theories used for explaining its behavior, are discussed.
