© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW COURSE ON DESIGN WITH FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS Background

From the 1960s through the 1990s, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) matrix composite materials were expensive and considered primarily for applications where extremely high strength, high stiffness, and corrosion resistance justified their high cost (primarily aerospace and defense industry needs) [1]. In approximately the last ten years, however, advanced manufacturing methods and increased volume have driven the manufactured cost of composites down dramatically. They are an entire category of materials which are rapidly gaining acceptance and market share as engineered commodity materials. The volume of composites used has risen 65% since 1996 [2]. Composite materials do, however, present some unique challenges in design that are not present in more traditional materials such as steel, concrete, etc. The traditional materials are typically the ones considered in most undergraduate and graduate engineering curricula. Among the issues presented by composites include the tailoring of fiber types, fiber volume, fiber architectures, as well as matrix materials and processing methods. These are highly anisotropic in nature, and present additional complexity to design. If fully taken advantage of, optimized composite structures can cut weight and life cycle cost significantly compared to traditional materials. The key issue with using composites is that the designer must engineer the material, process, and structure simultaneously, as they are highly interdependent. A high level of synergy exists between the faculty at the University of Dayton and the US Ai