Load bearing composites

Abstract Composite fibre/matrix materials are not new to the aircraft and allied industries but they have not yet been fully accepted by the construction industry, although they have great potential in certain areas. The paper discusses the various composites and their manufacture, gives values of mechanical properties for these different manufacturing techniques and states which technique is most relevant for specific structural applications. The discussion continues by introducing the design philosophy for continuum and skeletal structures and illustrates methods of joining units of these systems together.