Advanced Topics in Characterization of Composites is a product of the ''Characterization of Composite Materials" graduate course in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Tulsa. It contains a series of chapters describing characterization techniques for polymer-matrix composite materials. Topics covered include: -thermal analysis using DSC, -residual stresses, -single-fiber fragmentation testing, -creep and creep nature, -impact testing, -infrared thermography, -air-coupled ultrasonics, -structural health monitoring, and -fractography. The chapters include comprehensive literature reviews, background information, and best practices in experimental composites evaluation.

Over much of the last three decades, the evolution of techniques for characterizing composite materials has struggled to keep up with the advances of composite materials themselves and their broadening areas of application. In recent years, however, much work has been done to consolidate test methods and better understand those being used. Finally,

Focusing on fundamentals while presenting more advanced topics, this introductory text, by presenting basic analytic and design principles, offers the knowledge required to effectively design structures, using advanced composite materials. It examines material forms, properties and manufacturing techniques.

The papers in this volume cover a broad spectrum of topics that represent the truly diverse nature of the field of composite materials. This collection presents research and findings relevant to the latest advances in composites materials, specifically their use in aerospace, maritime, and even land applications. The editors have made every effort to bring together authors who put forth recent advances in their research while concurrently both elaborating on and thereby enhancing our prevailing understanding of the salient aspects related to the science, engineering, and far-reaching technological applications of composite materials.

Advanced composite materials or high performance polymer composites are an unusual class of materials that possess a combination of high strength and modulus and are substantially superior to structural metals and alloys on an equal weight basis. The book provides an overview of the key components that are considered in the design of a composite, of surface chemistry, of analyses/testing, of structure/property relationships with emphasis on compressive strength and damage tolerance. Newly emerging tests, particularly open hole compression tests are expected to provide greater assurance of composite performance. This publication is an "up-to-date" treatment of leading edge areas of composite technology with literature reviewed until recently and includes thermoplastic prepregs/composites and major application areas.

Engineering practice has revealed that innovative technologies’ structural applications require new design concepts related to developing materials with mechanical properties tailored for construction purposes. This would allow the efficient use of engineering materials. The efficiency can be understood in a simplified and heuristic manner as the optimization of performance and the proper combination of structural components, leading to the consumption of the least amount of natural resources. The solution to the eco-optimization problem, based on the adequate characterization of the materials, will enable implementing environmentally friendly engineering principles when the efficient use of advanced materials guarantees the required structural safety. Identifying fundamental relationships between the structure of advanced composites and their physical properties is the focus of this book. The collected articles explore the development of sustainable composites with valorized manufacturability corresponding to Industrial Revolution 4.0 ideology. The publications, amongst others, reveal that the application of nano-particles improves the mechanical performance of composite materials; heat-resistant aluminium composites ensure the safety of overhead power transmission lines; chemical additives can detect the impact of temperature on concrete structures. This book demonstrates that construction materials’ choice has considerable room for improvement from a scientific viewpoint, following heuristic approaches.

Smart Composites: Mechanics and Design addresses the current progress in the mechanics and design of smart composites and multifunctional structures. Divided into three parts, it covers characterization of properties, analyses, and design of various advanced composite material systems with an emphasis on the coupled mechanical and non-mechanical behaviors. Part one includes analyses of smart materials related to electrically conductive, magnetostrictive nanocomposites and design of active fiber composites. These discussions include several techniques and challenges in manufacturing smart composites and characterizing coupled properties, as well as the analyses of composite structures at various length and time scales undergoing coupled mechanical and non-mechanical stimuli considering elastic, viscoelastic (and/or viscoplastic), fatigue, and damage behaviors. Part two is dedicated to a higher-scale analysis of smart structures with topics such as piezoelectrically actuated bistable composites, wing morphing design using macrofiber composites, and multifunctional layered composite beams. The analytical expressions for characterization of the smart structures are presented with an attention to practical application. Finally, part three presents recent advances regarding sensing and structural health monitoring with a focus on how the sensing abilities can be integrated within the material and provide continuous sensing, recognizing that multifunctional materials can be designed to both improve and enhance the health-monitoring capabilities and also enable effective nondestructive evaluation. Smart Composites: Mechanics and Design is an essential text for those interested in materials that not only possess the classical properties of stiffness and strength, but also act as actuators under a variety of external stimuli, provide passive and active response to enable structural health monitoring, facilitate advanced nondestructive testing strategies, and enable shape-changing and morphing structures.