Introduction: Composites make up a very broad and important class of engineering materials. World annual production is over 10 million tons and the market is growing at 5-10% per year. Composites are used in a very wide variety of applications that we see every day largely because of their unique properties.

Composites are made from two or more distinct materials that when combined are better (stronger, tougher, and/or more durable) than each would be separately.

The word usually refers to the fiber-reinforced metal, polymer, and ceramic materials that were originally developed for aerospace use in the 1950s.

Composite materials include particulate, flake, fiber-reinforced, and laminated composites. This course will emphasize the design and analysis of laminated composites, beginning with examinations of orthotropic materials and behaviors for a single lamina, then expanding on these concepts to calculate material behaviors for laminated composites.

Composites also allow for tailoring of their structure to suit the engineering needs. This concept is well illustrated by biological materials such as wood, bone, intervertebral disc, and cartilage.

Composites are strong, stiff and lightweight materials best known for their use in aerospace applications. Today, composites are commonly used by the automotive, biomedical, and sporting goods markets, and are seeing increased use in the rehabilitation, repair, and retrofit of civil infrastructure--including, for example, as replacement bridge decks and wrapping for concrete columns.

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In addition to offering specialized material properties, composites are also used because of of they can be corrosion resistant, non-magnetic, or have other features that optimize them for an application. In the medical imaging application above, Vermont Composites, Inc. fabricated components for the table supporting the patient and the "C" arm which supports the x-ray source and the detectors.