Composites are materials made by combining two or more components. When put together, the components make a material that is stronger than each one alone. Composites have fibers held together by some kind of binding resin. The special qualities make composites particularly useful in products we use every day. Composites can be strong but still lightweight. And they are very durable even in bad weather. More and more products use composites rather than just metal or plastic. From cars to buildings to phones, composites make modern life possible.
Early Days of Composites Use
People have made composites for a very long time. Ancient people combined mud and straw to make bricks for building. Mud and straw bricks form a composite material. One of the first modern composites combined fiberglass and plastic in the 1940s. Fiberglass on its own can be fluffy with no form or shape. But when stiff plastic resin is added to hold the fibers, the materials together make very strong composite products. Many simple things like waste baskets or kayaks now use fiberglass composites.
Carbon Fiber Takes Flight
New methods to make super thin carbon fibers launched composites into flying machines. Extremely fine carbon fiber threads woven together form flexible material that is very, very light but also extremely strong. These impressive qualities attracted aerospace engineers looking for lightweight but sturdy materials. Airplanes and jets must be as light possible in order to fly. But they also require materials that will not break or crack over thousands of uses in all kinds of conditions. Carbon fiber composites met these special durability and strength versus weight needs perfectly.
Carbon Composites Soar with Aerospace
Aerospace projects depend on groundbreaking materials. Engineers design rockets, satellites, and spacecraft to survive rapid acceleration, massive gravitational forces, enormous changes in weather from hot to cold, and even collisions with space junk. Customized carbon composites enable these extreme demands. Sleek yet strong carbon composites replaced heavier metal parts used in early aerospace history. This launched vast new experiments in aerospace design and performance.
Specialized Companies Push Innovation
Currently, advanced carbon composites assist nearly every major aerospace goal around the world. Many aerospace composites companies, like Aerodine Composites, focus entirely on this field. They work closely with scientists on formulas tailoring composites to individual missions. Custom calibration at the molecular level produces space-ready materials not found anywhere else. These specialized companies also handle constructing and assembling the composite pieces into rockets and satellites. It takes enormous machines and precision tools to transform tiny carbon fibers into giant towers of technology.
The Future Still Needs Composites
Future aerospace achievements depend on composites too. Goals like tourism in space and landing astronauts on Mars ride on the back of ever-evolving composites. Lightweight insulation must withstand extreme temperature swings from hot atmospheric friction to frozen space journeys. Visiting Mars demands external shields tough enough to survive dust storms and a completely alien atmosphere compared to Earth. And human colonies on Mars require ultra-sturdy composites to build habitats. Meanwhile back in orbit, increased satellite networks call for easier production with 3D printing or cheaper costs from newer materials. All this innovation continues to progress because of specialized composites.
Conclusion
From ancient bricks to next generation rockets, composite materials improve human technology. Mixing components creates better, fitting materials not found separately in nature. Unique aerospace demands stretch abilities even further. Exceptionally fast vehicles covered in heat shields travel unfathomable distances across a vacuum, solely thanks to carbon fiber and resins. Composites provide the capability to launch out past gravity into space exploration’s future. The sky is no longer the limit.
