While a Composite is a material composed from different substances in order to combine the benefits of both substances within the composed material, materials designated as Advanced Composites are characterized by the following features:
- Combination from a matrix and reinforcing fibres
- where the matrix may be metall, ceramics, but mostly is a polymer material like a thermoplastic or duromer plastic and
- where reinforcing fibres are imbedded into the matrix and
- where these reinforcing fibres are charactrized by very high strength and/or very high elastic modulus (mostly used glass fibres or carbon fibres, but also ceramic fibres or polymer fibres, such as Aramid fibres or HPPE-fibres) and
- where these reinforcing fibres are oriented and stretched according to the directions of maximum stress. Therefore Advanced Composites generally are unisotropic.
- and where a high degree of adhesion of the reinforcing fibres to the matrix is provided, in some cases by a silan treatment of fibres.
