ABSTRACT
Polymers have the advantage of a savings in weight over metals. This advantage is important in aircraft and automotive applications, where weight advantage corresponds to a fuel savings. Polymers also have good chemical resistance and are easily fabricated and joined. On the other hand, polymers lack thermal stability and have only moderate resistance to environmental degradation. They also possess relatively poor mechanical properties when compared with metals. The practice of combining fillers and other reinforcing materials with plastics to enhance their performance characteristics and at the same time mitigate some of their less desirable characteristics is part of the broad technology of fabricated composite materials.
