Advanced composite materials (ACMs) are also known as advanced

polymer matrix composites. These are generally characterized or determined

by unusually high strength fibres with unusually high stiffness, or modulus of
elasticity characteristics, compared to other materials, while bound together by
weaker matrices. These are termed advanced composite materials (ACM) in
comparison to the composite materials commonly in use such as reinforced
concrete, or even concrete itself. The high strength fibers are also low density
while occupying a large fraction of the volume
Advanceded composites exhibit desirable physical and chemical properties that
include light weight coupled with high stiffness (elasticity), and strength along
the direction of the reinforcing fiber, dimensional stability, temperature and
chemical resistance, flex performance, and relatively easy processing. Advanced
composites are replacing metal components in many uses, particularly in the
aerospace industry.
Composites are classified according to their matrix phase. These classifications
are polymer matrix composites (PMCs), ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), and
metal matrix composites (MMCs). Also, materials within these categories are
often called "advanced" if they combine the properties of high (axial,
longitudinal) strength values and high (axial, longitudinal) stiffness values, with
low weight, corrosion resistance, and in some cases special electrical properties.
Advanced composite materials have broad, proven applications, in the aircraft,
aerospace, and sports equipment sectors. Even more specifically ACMs are very
attractive for aircraft and aerospace structural parts. ACMs have been developing
for NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program, armor protection for Army
aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration of the USA, and hightemperature shafting for the Comanche helicopter. Additionally, ACMs have a
decades long history in military and government aerospace industries. However,
much of the technology is new and not presented formally in secondary or
undergraduate education, and the technology of advanced composites
manufacture is continually evolving.[1][2][3]
Due to their high tensile strength to density ratio,[8] high corrosion resistance,[4]
fatigue resistance, high crack resistance,[59] and ability to withstand moderately
high temperatures without creeping, titanium alloys are used in aircraft, armor
plating, naval ships, spacecraft, and missiles.[4][5] For these applications titanium
alloyed with aluminium, zirconium, nickel,[60] vanadium, and other elements is
used for a variety of components including critical structural parts, fire walls,
landing gear, exhaust ducts (helicopters), and hydraulic systems. In fact, about
two thirds of all titanium metal produced is used in aircraft engines and frames.
[61]
The SR-71 "Blackbird" was one of the first aircraft to make extensive use of
titanium within its structure, paving the way for its use in modern military and
commercial aircraft. An estimated 59 metric tons (130,000 pounds) are used in
the Boeing 777, 45 in the Boeing 747, 18 in the Boeing 737, 32 in the Airbus
A340, 18 in the Airbus A330, and 12 in the Airbus A320. The Airbus A380 may
use 77 metric tons, including about 11 tons in the engines. [62] In engine

applications, titanium is used for rotors, compressor blades, hydraulic system

components, and nacelles. The titanium 6AL-4V alloy accounts for almost 50% of
all alloys used in aircraft applications.[63]
Due to its high corrosion resistance to sea water, titanium is used to make
propeller shafts and rigging and in the heat exchangers of desalination plants;[4]
in heater-chillers for salt water aquariums, fishing line and leader, and for divers'
knives. Titanium is used to manufacture the housings and other components of
ocean-deployed surveillance and monitoring devices for scientific and military
use. The former Soviet Union developed techniques for making submarines with
hulls of titanium alloys.[64] Techniques were developed in the Soviet Union to
forge titanium in huge vacuum tubes.[60]
Industrial
Aerospace alloys
Scandiumaluminium

Parts of the Mig29 are made from AlSc alloy.[11]

The addition of scandium to aluminium creates nanoscale Al3Sc precipitates
which limit the excessive grain growth that occurs in the heat-affected zone of
welded aluminium components. This has two beneficial effects: the precipitated
Al3Sc forms smaller crystals than are formed in other aluminium alloys [11] and the
width of precipitate-free zones that normally exist at the grain boundaries of agehardenable aluminium alloys is reduced.[11] Scandium is also a potent grain
refiner in cast aluminium alloys, and atom for atom, the most potent
strengthener in aluminium, both as a result of grain refinement and precipitation
strengthening. However, titanium alloys, which are stronger but heavier, are
cheaper and much more widely used.[12]
The main application of metallic scandium by weight is in aluminium-scandium
alloys for minor aerospace industry components. These alloys contain between
0.1% and 0.5% (by weight) of scandium. They were used in the Russian military
aircraft Mig 21 and Mig 29.[11]
Some items of sports equipment, which rely on high performance materials, have
been made with scandium-aluminium alloys, including baseball bats,[13] lacrosse
sticks, as well as bicycle[14] frames and components, and tent poles. U.S.

gunmaker Smith & Wesson produces revolvers with frames composed of

scandium alloy and cylinders of titanium. [15]
List of aerospace aluminium alloys
aterials of Engineering refers to selecting the correct materials for the application
in which the engineered part is being used. This selection process includes
choosing the material, paying attention to its specific type or grade based on the
required properties. Engineers will select a particular grade of material based on
its properties such as malleability or tensile strength. Composites comprise two
materials, such as a metallic mesh and a resin, the combination of which also
depends on the properties required. Materials from which the item is to be
manufactured are noted on the engineering drawing using standard material and
grade codes. It is important that manufacturers do not interchange materials
because the switch may make the products susceptible to failures. Materials
science and engineering is a field broadly based in chemistry, physics, and the
engineering sciences. The field is concerned with the design, manufacture, and
use of all classes of materials (including metals, ceramics, semiconductors,
polymers, and biomaterials), and with energy, environmental, health, economic,
and manufacturing issues relating to materials. Materials science and
engineering is a field critical to our future economic and environmental wellbeing.
Materials science emphasizes the study of the structure of materials and of
processing-structure-property relations in materials. Almost all the properties of
importance to an engineer are structure-sensitivethat is, they can be modified
in significant ways by changing the chemical composition, the arrangement of
the atoms or molecules in crystalline or amorphous configurations, and the size,
shape, and orientation of the crystals or other macroscopic units of a solid. To
understand how the useful properties of a material can be modified, it is
necessary to understand the fundamental relationships between structure and
properties and how the structure can be changed and controlled by the various
chemical, thermal, mechanical, or other treatments to which a material is
subjected during manufacture and in use. The fundamental understanding of
materials developed through materials science has replaced empiricism as the
basis for discovery of new materials. Whole classes of new materials such as
semiconductors, superconductors, and high-temperature alloys have their roots
in modern materials science.
Recent achievements in materials have depended as much on advances in
materials engineering as they have on materials science. When developing
engineering processes for preparation and production of materials, and when
designing materials for specific applications, the materials engineer must
understand fundamental concepts such as thermodynamics, and heat and mass
transfer and chemical kinetics, and must also have a proper concern for
economic, social, and environmental factors. Today's materials scientists and
engineers are well equipped to address some of the key challenges facing

humanity, including energy generation and storage and the environmental

impact of human activities, and to improve human health and well-being.
Materials engineering and materials science are interwoven in the department.
There are some subjects that all students of materials should know:
thermodynamics, kinetics, materials structure, electronic and mechanical
properties of materials, bio- and polymeric materials, and materials processing.
Core subjects in these areas are offered at the undergraduate and graduate
levels. In addition, elective subjects covering a wide range of topics are offered.
Lectures are complemented by a variety of laboratory experiences. By selecting
appropriate subjects, the student can follow many different paths with emphasis
on engineering, science, or a mixture of the two. In addition, students may
pursue a path in archaeology and archaeological science by selecting subjects
that focus on archaeological materials research within the Department of
Materials Science and Engineering and the Center for Materials Research in
Archaeology and Ethnology. This curriculum is unique within departments of
anthropology, archaeology, and engineering.
Materials engineers and materials scientists, whether generalists or specialists in
a particular class of material, are in continually high demand by industry and
government for jobs in research, development, production, and management.
They find challenging opportunities in diverse important positions in companies
working on energy and the environment, in the electronics industry, in the
aerospace industry, in consumer industries, and in biomaterials and medical
industries. A large number of DMSE alumni are faculty of leading universities.
The department has modern undergraduate materials teaching laboratories
containing a wide variety of materials processing and characterization
equipment. The Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory on the Infinite Corridor
includes facilities for biomaterials research, chemical synthesis, and physical and
electronic properties measurement. The new Laboratory for Advanced Materials,
located across the hall, was completed in 2010. It contains new characterization
equipment for scanning acoustical microscopy, near-field and scanning laser
confocal microscopes, and low-temperature multiprobe. Other departmental
facilities include those for preparation and characterization of thin films,
ceramics and glasses, metallic and nonmetallic crystals, biomaterials, and
polymers. Equipment is available for the study of mechanical properties in the
Nanomechanics Laboratory, and for metal casting and joining in the Foundry.
Materials are characterized by optical, electron (TEM, SEM), and scanning probe
(AFM, STM) microscopy, and there is equipment for a wide range of electrical
optical, magnetic, and mechanical property measurements.
Although a broad definition, we categorise nanomaterials as those which have
structured components with at least one dimension less than 100nm. Materials
that have one dimension in the nanoscale (and are extended in the other two
dimensions) are layers, such as graphene, thin films or surface coatings. Some of
the features on computer chips come in this category. Materials that are
nanoscale in two dimensions (and extended in one dimension) include nanowires

and nanotubes. Materials that are nanoscale in three dimensions are particles,
for example precipitates, colloids and quantum dots (tiny particles of
semiconductor materials). Nanocrystalline materials, made up of nanometresized grains, also fall into this category. Some of these materials have been
available for some time; others are genuinely new. The aim of this chapter is to
give an overview of the properties, and the significant foreseeable applications of
some key nanomaterials.
Two principal factors cause the properties of nanomaterials to differ significantly
from other materials: increased relative surface area, and quantum effects.
These factors can change or enhance properties such as reactivity, strength and
electrical characteristics. As a particle decreases in size, a greater proportion of
atoms are found at the surface compared to those inside. For example, a particle
of size 30 nm has 5% of its atoms on its surface, at 10 nm 20% of its atoms, and
at 3 nm 50% of its atoms. Thus nanoparticles have a much greater surface area
per unit mass compared with larger particles. As growth and catalytic chemical
reactions occur at surfaces, this means that a given mass of material in
nanoparticulate form will be much more reactive than the same mass of material
made up of larger particles.

To understand the effect of particle size on surface area, consider an American

Silver Eagle coin. This silver dollar contains 31 grams of coin silver and has a
total surface area of approximately 3000 square millimeters. If the same amount
of coin silver were divided into tiny particles say 10 nanometer in diameter
the total surface area of those particles would be 7000 square meters (which is
equal to the size of a soccer field or larger than the floor space of the White
House, which is 5100 square meters). In other words: when the amount of coin
silver contained in a silver dollar is rendered into 10 nm particles, the surface
area of those particles is over 2 million times greater than the surface area of the
silver dollar! (We borrowed this excellent example from the Particular website)
Read more: Nanotechnology Introduction - Definition