ABSTRACT
Surface analytical techniques have been especially useful for the study of composite materials because the properties of such materials are so strongly in uenced by the nature of the internal and external interfaces. Composite materials consist of a low modulus continuous phase matrix strengthened by an embedded high modulus and strong discontinuous reinforcement phase. This combination allows for the development of a large number of new materials with properties tied to different applications. In composite materials, the stress is carried in proportion to the moduli of the constituent phases, weighted by their respective volume fractions. The reinforcement phase is generally a ber, which thus bears the principal load, while the matrix not only binds the composite together but also deforms under load thus distributing the majority of the stress to the bers. Isolation of the bers in the reinforcement phase reduces the possibility that the failure of an individual ber will lead to catastrophic failure. These mechanical properties, combined with light weight, corrosion resistance, an ability to be fabricated into complex geometries, and other desirable properties, have meant that composites have found many important applications.
