The History of Composites

The Beginning of Composites

The first known composite is adobe, a mud and straw mixture that was used as an early building material. The straw allows the water in the mud (or clay) to evaporate and distributes cracks in the mud uniformly creating a very strong material.
In the 12th century Mongols made archery bows that were smaller and more powerful than their rivals by combining cattle tendons, horns, bamboo, silk, and bonded with natural pine resin. The tendons were placed on the tension side of the bow, the bamboo was used as a core, and sheets of horn were laminated to the compression side of the bow. The bow was then tightly wrapped with silk using the resin adhesive.
In the late 1800s canoe builders glued layers of craft paper together with shellac to form paper laminate. The concept was successful, however the product preformed poorly and therefore the idea did not last.

Between 1870 and 1890 the first synthetic resins were developed. These polymer resins are transformed from their liquid states to the solid state by crosslinking molecules. Early synthetic resins include celluloid, melamine, and Bakelite.
In the early 1930s American Cyanamid and DuPont independently formulated polyester resin for the first time. In the same time period, Owens-Illinois Glass Company began weaving glass fiber into a textile fabric on a commercial basis.

Between 1870 and 1890 the first synthetic resins were developed. These polymer resins are transformed from their liquid states to the solid state by crosslinking molecules. Early synthetic resins include celluloid, melamine, and Bakelite.
In the early 1930s American Cyanamid and DuPont independently formulated polyester resin for the first time. In the same time period, Owens-Illinois Glass Company began weaving glass fiber into a textile fabric on a commercial basis.

Between 1934 and 1936 experimenter Ray Green combined these two new products and began molding small boats. During World War II the development of radar required non-metallic housings and the U.S. military advanced the fledgling composites technology with many research projects.
Following World War II, composites materials emerged as a major engineering material.

The composites industry began to take off in the 1940s and grew rapidly in the 1950s. By 1955 most of the composites processing methods used today had been developed. Open molding, hand lay-up, chopping, compression molding, filament winding, resin transfer molding, vacuum bagging, and vacuum infusion were all developed between 1946 and 1955.
Today, the composites industry continues to grow as a major provider of products.