ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the properties and design methods for fibre-polymer composite structures. It concentrates on fibre-plastics composites. The chapter provides an overview of the attractive qualities of composites in relation to the qualities of the fibres and the plastics, indicates two approaches to design for stiffness and strength, and indicates some ‘unusual’ features of behaviour of composites. It revises the relationships between the properties of composite sheets and the properties of the fibres and plastics. The chapter discusses the behaviour of a sheet or lamina containing aligned fibres, and describes how such an anisotropic lamina behaves when loaded in-the-plane at an angle to the fibre direction. It describes the stiffness and strength behaviour of laminates under in-plane loading and includes reference to the design of pipes and pressure vessels.
