Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials

Composite materials are seeing wider and wider applications to, for example, aircraft, cars, bicycles, and superconductors. They have been proven to be stronger yet more flexible than steel and other materials presently in use. Aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students, as well as engineers with a need for a clear, useful introduction to the composites field, this text was drawn form extensive course notes developed by both authors over many years. Beginning with basic definitions and an overview of the current status of composites technology, it takes the student and newcomer to composites through the theory and experimental results of research with many types of composite materials. Emphasizing computational procedures, the text includes many solved problems, unsolved problems, and worked-out examples; also sample computer programs and flow charts for computations.