Engineering Composites Mechanical Properties

Composite materials include some of the most advanced engineering materials today.  The addition of high strength fibers to a polymer matrix can greatly improve mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, flexural modulus, and temperature resistance. Examples are illustrated in the table below.
Typical Values of Filled and Unfilled Polymers for Injection Molding

	Ultimate Tensile Strength (MPa)		Flexural Modulus (GPa)		Deflection Temperature at 1.8 MPa load (°C)
	Unfilled	With 30% Glass Fiber	Unfilled	With 30% Glass Fiber	Unfilled	With 30% Glass Fiber
Polyetheretherketone	90	150	4	10	160	285
Polyphenylene Sulfide	70	140	5	11	120	260
Epoxy	70	150	2.5	25	175	200
Phenolic	60	90	3	20	180	250
Thermoset Polyester	60	140	3	8	130	220
ABS	40	90	2.5	7	90	110

Additives can also be included in polymers for reasons other than thermo-mechanical property improvements.  For example, graphite, PTFE, or molybdenum disulfide are added to polymers as lubricants to lower the coefficient of friction or wear rate in tribological applications such as bearings or slide plates.
MatWeb has entries for well over 8000 polymers, including both thermoplastics and thermosets, which have been reinforced through the addition of glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber, wood, or mineral reinforcements.  Not all of these are cutting edge products; some merely include inexpensive inorganics such as calcium carbonate or talc as a way of achieving improved dimensional stability in commodity grade plastics such as polypropylene.
Since the vast majority of polymer-based composites are generally processed and sold as polymers, MatWeb has categorized them according to the base resin in our material property data search tools.  Some manufacturers of composite materials do not even disclose the identity or quantity of reinforcing fibers or the matrix material for competitive reasons.
MatWeb has other structural composite materials, offering higher performance, in addition to filled polymers.  For example, you can find 'Metal Matrix Composite' listed in the "Nonferrous Metal' section of our Material Type Search or 'Composite Fibers' and 'Composite Core Material' listed under 'Other Engineering Materials'.