This edition has been greatly enlarged and updated to provide both scientists and engineers with a clear and comprehensive understanding of composite materials. In describing both theoretical and practical aspects of their production, properties and usage, the book crosses the borders of many disciplines. Topics covered include: fibres, matrices, laminates and interfaces; elastic deformation, stress and strain, strength, fatigue crack propagation and creep resistance; toughness and thermal properties; fatigue and deterioration under environmental conditions; fabrication and applications. Coverage has been increased to include polymeric, metallic and ceramic matrices and reinforcement in the form of long fibres, short fibres and particles. Designed primarily as a teaching text for final-year undergraduates in materials science and engineering, this book will also interest undergraduates and postgraduates in chemistry, physics, and mechanical engineering. In addition, it will be an excellent source book for academic and technological researchers on materials.

Metal matrix composites constitute a new class of materials, now starting to make a major industrial impact in fields as diverse as aerospace, automotives and electronics. This book gives a comprehensive, integrated coverage of these materials, including the background to analytical-, experimental-, production and application-oriented aspects. Clear pictorial descriptions are given of the basic principles governing various properties and characteristics; these encompass mechanical, thermal, electrical, environmental and wear behaviour. Coverage also extends to material processing and component fabrication aspects and to a survey of commercial usage. This book is aimed primarily at scientists, engineers, production managers and all those involved in research on new materials in general, and metal matrix composites in particular, but may also be suitable for use as a text in beginning graduate and advanced undergraduate courses.

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The review describes recent progress on understanding and quantification of the various phenomena that take place during plasma electrolytic oxidation, which is in increasing industrial use for production of protective coatings and other surface treatment purposes. A general overview of the process and some information about usage of these coatings are provided in the first part of the review. The focus is then on the dielectric breakdown that repeatedly occurs over the surface of the work-piece. These discharges are central to the process, since it is largely via the associated plasmas that oxidation of the substrate takes place and the coating is created. The details are complex, since the discharge characteristics are affected by a number of processing variables. The interrelationships between electrical conditions, electrolyte composition, coating microstructure and rates of growth, which are linked via the characteristics of the discharges, have become clearer over recent years and these improvements in understanding are summarised here. There is considerable scope for more effective process control, with specific objectives in terms of coating performance and energy efficiency, and an attempt is made to identify key points that are likely to assist this.

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A study has been made of the electrical characteristics and optical emission spectra exhibited when discharge events take place during plasma electrolytic oxidation processing. Both conventional and small area experimental arrangements have been employed, allowing detailed measurement of durations, and temporal distributions, as well as such characteristics as charge transfer, and power. Individual discharges are of short duration, typically tens to hundreds of microseconds, but there is a strong tendency for them to occur in cascades that commonly last between several ms and several tens of ms. The composition, temperature and electron density of the plasma formed during PEO processing are inferred from characteristics of the emission spectra. This confirms that there are two distinct regions of plasma; a lower density peripheral region at~3500 K, and a higher density core at 16,000 ± 3500 K. The implications of these results are considered in terms of the interpretation of different types of experimental measurement, and attention is also briefly given to how such behaviour might relate to the mechanisms of growth.

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