Composite Materials

While materials in nature are used in buildings, they are generally not used alone. Throughout history, mankind has always used more than one material together while producing complex tools, goods and creating living spaces.

Composite material is the name given to the materials formed by mixing at least two component materials on a macroscopic scale, improving each other's weaknesses, and as a result, obtaining a more durable product while preserving their own properties. Composites are multi-phase materials, consisting of a main phase material and the reinforcement phase that is dispersed in the main phase material and completes a weak aspect of the main material. The key point in this combination is that the modulus of elasticity of the reinforcement phase should be much higher than the main phase’s. Examples of composite materials include quartz and glass fiber mix, concrete and steel reinforcement mix, concrete and textile reinforcement mix, clay and straw mixtures (mudbrick). If only two properties are compared, it can easily be said that one of the materials mentioned in these examples has good performance under compressive forces and the other has good performance under tensile forces.

Composite materials can be classified under three titles as granular, fibrous, and layered composites depending on the type of reinforcement phase. Examples of granular composites are cement concrete and asphalt concrete, which is frequently used as road paving material. Examples of fibrous composites are glass or carbon fiber epoxy-based materials, and helmet, vest, etc. kevlar fibrous polyesters in the defense industry. Layered composites, on the other hand, are in sandwich structure and are used in aircraft wings and hulls.

The combination of the components that make up the composite materials enables them to complete each other's weaknesses by dividing the environmental effects they are exposed to. This is also the case in buildings where many people live, built using concrete and steel (reinforced concrete). The compressive strength of concrete created using cement, aggregate, water, and additives is quite high whereas its tensile strength is low, and the tensile strength of steel is very high. Creating a matrix together is an optimum solution to bear compressive and tensile strengths altogether. Similarly, GRC, which is frequently used as precast facade cladding material, means glass fiber reinforced concrete, and it is manufactured by using glass fibers in concrete, where the main material is concrete and the reinforcement phase is the glass fibers, and is classified as fiber polymer composite. In this category, CBOARD Panel and CBOARD Decorative products are also GRC products. The properties of composites can be improved with various additives; therefore, higher strength, more durable materials can be created. Just like GRC, UHPC (ultra-high performance concrete ) panels, which are widely used as precast facade cladding materials, and they are ultra-high performance end products created by using technical textile as reinforcement phase in the main phase concrete, plus various additives.