Composite material

A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. The new material may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include materials which are stronger, lighter, or less expensive when compared to traditional materials. More recently, researchers have also begun to actively include sensing, actuation, computation and communication into composites, which are known as Robotic Materials.

Typical engineered composite materials include:

Composite materials are generally used for buildings, bridges, and structures such as boat hulls, swimming pool panels, race car bodies, shower stalls, bathtubs, storage tanks, imitation granite and cultured marble sinks and countertops. The most advanced examples perform routinely on spacecraft and aircraft in demanding environments.

The earliest man-made composite materials were straw and mud combined to form bricks for building construction. Ancient brick-making was documented by Egyptian tomb paintings .

Wattle and daub is one of the oldest man-made composite materials, at over 6000 years old. Concrete is also a composite material, and is used more than any other man-made material in the world. As of 2006^[update], about 7.5 billion cubic metres of concrete are made each year—more than one cubic metre for every person on Earth.

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