Failures in carbon fibre reinforced composite boat structures

摘要

Composite materials are simply those where two or more constituents are combined to produce properties that are not achievable by either on its own. Engineering the properties you want from a material can be very advantageous and using polymer matrix composites (PMCs) is an affordable way to do this. PMCs have been used in naval architecture for over 60 years; their first large scale military application was GRP hulled small personnel craft just after the Second World War. At first their use was limited as the boats were plagued with problems caused by poor fabrication, but as techniques improved, their use flourished. GRP is now extensively used maritime construction and is often superseded by carbon where high specific strength or modulus components are required.