Published by Australian Academy of Science
Glossary | Putting it together – the science and technology of composite materials

compressive strength and tensile strength. Strength is determined by how much weight a material can support or how much stress it can withstand. Compressive strength is the maximum stress that a material will bear when it is subjected to a load that pushes it together. Tensile strength is the maximum stress a material will bear when it is subjected to a stretching load.

fibreglass. A composite material made of fine glass fibres woven into a cloth then bonded together with a synthetic plastic or resin.

plastics. Solid materials consisting of organic polymers. More information can be found at How is plastic made? (Plastics Resource, USA).

polymer. Polymers are large molecules that are made up of many units (monomers) linked together in a chain. There are naturally occurring polymers (eg, starch and DNA) and synthetic polymers (eg, nylon and silicone). More information can be found at The basics – polymer definition and properties (Plastic Resource, USA), Introduction to polymers (Case Western Reserve University, USA) and History of polymers and plastics for teachers (Hands On Plastics, American Plastics Council).

pultrusion.A continuous moulding process that mechanically aligns long strands of reinforcements for a composite material then passes them through a bath of thermosetting resin. The coated strands are then assembled by a mechanical guide before the curing process. More information can be found at The pultrusion process (About Composite Materials, USA).

stress. Force per unit area. It is measured in the same units as pressure, namely pascals (Pa). Materials typically have strengths in the megapascal (MPa) range (1 MPa = 1,000,000 Pa).