Preface

Composite materials have played an important role throughout human history, from housing early civilizations to enabling future innovations. Composites offer many benefits, key among them being corrosion resistance, design flexibility, durability, light weight, and strength. Composites have permeated our everyday lives through products that are used in construction, medical applications, oil and gas, transportation, sports, aerospace, consumer products, and much more. Over the last decades, nanotechnology has become a rapidly evolving technology. As such, science, engineering, and technology have merged to bring nanoscale materials that much closer to reality. This is one of the fastest growing areas for research. Nanocomposite materials are helping improve products that we use every day and creating new, exciting products for the future. Composites and nanocomposites composed of reinforcements, nano-reinforcements, and matrices are well-known engineering materials. Various reinforcements and nanoreinforcements used in the materials have different properties and thus affect their properties in different ways.

Keeping in mind the advantages of composite and nanocomposite materials, this book covers fundamental affects, product developments, and applications of the materials including material chemistry, designing, manufacturing, properties, and utilization of the materials in various applications. The book consists of 12 chapters that summarize recently developed research concerning composites and nanocomposites. Each chapter gives an overview of a particular material, its processing, and successful utilization for selected applications. The book also summarizes the recent developments made in the area of advanced composite and nanocomposite materials. Several critical issues and suggestions for future work are discussed, underscoring the roles of researchers for the efficient development of composites and nanocomposites through value additions to enhance their use.

Chapter 1, "Introduction to composite materials," addresses the advantages of composite materials as well as fundamental effects, product developments, and applications of composites, including material chemistry, designing, manufacturing, properties, and utilization of the materials in various applications. Composites offer many benefits and have permeated our everyday lives; however, to facilitate the advantages of the composites, several aspects must be considered: (a) concept development, (b) material selection and formulation, (c) material design, (d) product manufacturing, (e) market, and (f) regulations.

Chapter 2, "Introduction of natural fiber composite using in paperboard industry," addresses the mechanical properties, chemical compositions, crystallinity, and thermal stability of the newly developed composites. The results are analyzed to ensure the suitability of natural fiber as an optional fiber-material for the paperboard industry.

Chapter 3, "Advanced treatments of aramid fibers for composite laminates," is an overview of the aramid fibers, an important group of fibers for composite

**II**

**Chapter 8 135**

Analysis and Performance of Composites **149**

**Chapter 9 151**

**Chapter 10 171**

**Chapter 11 181**

**Chapter 12 205**

Damage Identification and Assessment Using Lamb Wave Propagation Parameters and Material Damping in FRP Composite Laminates

Strength Improvement and Stress Analysis of E-Glass Laminated Plates with Circular Notches Using Digital Image Correlation *by Abdelhak Khechai, Preetamkumar Marutrao Mohite,* 

Strength Analysis and Variation of Elastic Properties in Plantain

Surface Measurement and Evaluation of Fiber Woven Composites

Fiber/Polyester Composites for Structural Applications *by Christian Emeka Okafor and Christopher Chukwutoo Ihueze*

Nanosilica Composite for Greenhouse Application *by Malek Alghdeir, Khaled Mayya and Mohamed Dib*

*by Beera Satish Ben and Beera Avinash Ben*

*Abdelouahab Tati and Mohamed-Ouejdi Belarbi*

*by Bin Lin, Haoji Wang and Jinhua Wei*

**Section 4**

applications. This chapter discusses recent studies in micro-testing, for example, in the form of micro-droplet tests. Surface treatments and fiber modifications of the aramid fibers are also discussed. Furthermore, the properties of the resin, fiber, and interface are presented.

Chapter 4, "Vapor-Grown Carbon Fiber Synthesis, Properties, and Applications" discusses synthesis and properties of carbon fibers and vapor-grown carbon nanofibers as well as their mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. In addition, several potential applications of fibers, such as in composites and batteries, are also discussed. Carbon nanofibers and their composites can be utilized in numerous fields, including sensors, electrode materials, and electromagnetic shielding. Electrode materials and the realization of extraordinary structural designs to ensure large specific areas without sacrificing mechanical performances are key factors in enhancing the performances of these materials.

Chapter 5, "Fiber composites made of low-dimensional carbon materials," provides an overview of the research on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon fibers (CFs), and graphene-based fibers (GBFs) in composite materials. It also summarizes the main preparation methods, properties, and application fields of CNTs, CFs, and GBFs. Through various methods of modification, researchers continue to prepare CNT composite nanomaterials with excellent performance. Finally, the chapter examines existing problems and future development trends of carbon-based composites.

Chapter 6, "Reinforce Fabricated Nano-Composite Matrixes for Modernization of S & T in New Millennium" is a brief review of certain recent advances in assembly and reconfiguration of polymeric nanostructure composites and highlights their role in computer simulation. In addition, it presents the fundamental principles of assembly science as well as provides critical design tools for assembly engineering of complex nanostructured materials. The chapter also discusses the advantages of nanocomposites.

Chapter 7, "Composite nanofibers: recent progress in adsorptive removal and photocatalytic degradation of dyes," reviews the state of the art of a new generation of nanomaterials based on electrospun composite nanofibers for dye removal from wastewater. Natural polymers-based nanofibers, nanofibers with unique morphology, and carbon nanofibers are reviewed. The various nanostructures, adsorption capacity, advantages, and drawbacks are discussed along with mechanistic actions in the adsorption process and photocatalytic performance. The chapter covers multiple intriguing topics with in-depth discussion. This is a valuable reference for researchers who are working on nanomaterials and the treatment of colored waters.

Chapter 8, "Nanosilica composite for greenhouse application," presents the results of experiments on silicon dioxide insulation materials mixed with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) at a different proportion to prevent the transmittance of IR domain and to allow the transmittance of UV–Vis domains. Several ratios of nanosilica particles are employed to fabricate LDPE composites using melt mixing and hot molding methods. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites such as tensile strength are evaluated and discussed. The advantages of using nanosilica in the nanocomposite materials are summarized and the use of these LDPE/silica nanocomposites to build a mini greenhouse is presented.

**V**

method.

on failure strength.

Chapter 9, "Damage identification and assessment using lamb wave propagation parameters and material damping in reinforced polymer (FRP) composite

Chapter 10, "Strength improvement and stress analysis of E-glass laminated plates with circular notches using digital image correlation," addresses the stress concentration and tensile strength degradation of E-glass/epoxy laminates through a combination of both experimental and numerical studies. The numerical study using the finite element method (FEM) is discussed. The main aim of this work is to improve the ultimate strength of perforated composite plates, by using the defense hole system (DHS) technique. A digital image correlation (DIC) technique is also used to get the full-field surface strain measurements in perforated samples with various open hole diameters and DHS configurations, in order to show their effects

Chapter 11, "Strength analysis and variation of elastic properties in plantain fiber/ polyester composites for structural applications," assesses the extent of variation of elastic properties (*Ex, Ey , Gxy , vxy , vyx, mx, my*) with fiber orientation using MATLAB functions while considering the extent of variation of the tangential stresses around an idealized functional hole edge. The utilization of plantain fiberreinforced composites in structural applications empowers architects to make great accomplishments in the usefulness, security, and economy of development. The chapter also presents some notable design procedures in handling such limitations

in plantain fiber-reinforced composites using relevant failure theories.

methods based on the principle of statistics.

producers, and materials sciences.

**Acknowledgments**

Chapter 12, "Surface measurement and evaluation of fiber woven composites," presents a grading surface measurement and evaluation system for WCMCs based on their microstructures. The system includes four levels: fiber, fiber bundle, cell body, and the whole surface. On the fiber level, the typical forms of fiber damage and their effects on the surface morphology of WCMCs are analyzed, which lays a foundation for the measurement and evaluation methods on the next three levels. On each subsequent level, the system proposes a set of surface measurementsampling parameter determination methods and surface quality evaluation

As the editor, I have attempted to compile, unify, and present the emerging research trends in composite and nanocomposite materials. I hope this book will contribute to the advancement of both science and technology in these exciting areas. It is highly recommended for graduate students, engineers, researchers/ faculty, and professionals/practitioners in different fields such as chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering, forestry and agriculture, pulp and paper

I would like to thank all contributors, who provided excellent contributions and commitments on the chapters and discussions for this book. I wish to express

laminates," presents a methodology to identify damage in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The Lamb wave dispersion theory and loss less finite element model to find the fitted peak frequency and the modal frequencies in the composite laminates, respectively, are provided. The proposed method is implemented on FRP laminates (CFRP and GFRP) and the results are compared with bandwidth

Chapter 9, "Damage identification and assessment using lamb wave propagation parameters and material damping in reinforced polymer (FRP) composite laminates," presents a methodology to identify damage in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The Lamb wave dispersion theory and loss less finite element model to find the fitted peak frequency and the modal frequencies in the composite laminates, respectively, are provided. The proposed method is implemented on FRP laminates (CFRP and GFRP) and the results are compared with bandwidth method.

Chapter 10, "Strength improvement and stress analysis of E-glass laminated plates with circular notches using digital image correlation," addresses the stress concentration and tensile strength degradation of E-glass/epoxy laminates through a combination of both experimental and numerical studies. The numerical study using the finite element method (FEM) is discussed. The main aim of this work is to improve the ultimate strength of perforated composite plates, by using the defense hole system (DHS) technique. A digital image correlation (DIC) technique is also used to get the full-field surface strain measurements in perforated samples with various open hole diameters and DHS configurations, in order to show their effects on failure strength.

Chapter 11, "Strength analysis and variation of elastic properties in plantain fiber/ polyester composites for structural applications," assesses the extent of variation of elastic properties (*Ex, Ey , Gxy , vxy , vyx, mx, my*) with fiber orientation using MATLAB functions while considering the extent of variation of the tangential stresses around an idealized functional hole edge. The utilization of plantain fiberreinforced composites in structural applications empowers architects to make great accomplishments in the usefulness, security, and economy of development. The chapter also presents some notable design procedures in handling such limitations in plantain fiber-reinforced composites using relevant failure theories.

Chapter 12, "Surface measurement and evaluation of fiber woven composites," presents a grading surface measurement and evaluation system for WCMCs based on their microstructures. The system includes four levels: fiber, fiber bundle, cell body, and the whole surface. On the fiber level, the typical forms of fiber damage and their effects on the surface morphology of WCMCs are analyzed, which lays a foundation for the measurement and evaluation methods on the next three levels. On each subsequent level, the system proposes a set of surface measurementsampling parameter determination methods and surface quality evaluation methods based on the principle of statistics.

As the editor, I have attempted to compile, unify, and present the emerging research trends in composite and nanocomposite materials. I hope this book will contribute to the advancement of both science and technology in these exciting areas. It is highly recommended for graduate students, engineers, researchers/ faculty, and professionals/practitioners in different fields such as chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering, forestry and agriculture, pulp and paper producers, and materials sciences.
