A Practical Guide to Composites Book

How to use composite materials for your own application without it costing a fortune. This book leads you through each stage including equipment, ovens, vacuum pumps, materials, and special tools, together with mould making, curing, trimming and fitting. A practical guide to composites is a comprehensive and very useful, 140-page manual containing relevant material for the professional user of advanced composites and the enterprising home builder alike. The book has been written by an engineer who has decided to remain anonymous, but who has been active in the composites industry (and in its motorsports applications) for more than a decade. The author told Racecar that his purpose was to de-mystify composites engineering, and prove even to the amateur builder that it is not a black art. Under its 21 chapter headings, the book covers all aspects of this increasingly large subject including Woven Fabrics, Fibre Orientation, Laminating, De-Bulking & Vacuum Bagging, Curing Composites, Design Considerations, Cores & Honeycombs, Master Models & Patterns, Mould Manufacture, Fitting & Finishing, Backing Structures, Vacuum Pumps, Building an Oven, Material Selection, and Types of Defect. As if this was not enough, the book also provides a historical background to the use of composite materials, a glossary of terms, advice on health and safety, and a description of tools used in the production of composite components. Perhaps the most useful features of all are tabulated work instruction pages. These provide step-by-step guidelines to mould tool degreasing and release application, preparing to lay-up, carrying out a simple lay-up, constructing a basic oven, and vacuum drop checking, among other items.Read More