Composite Materials and Its Advancements for a Cleaner Engine of Future

Abstract

Composites form a modern class of structural materials that are increasingly replacing the conventional materials in various engineering domains due to the reduced density along with simultaneous enhancement in mechanical and tribological performance. Specific to the combustion engine application, usage of lighter materials becomes imperative as it yields greater fuel efficiency, bringing down the pollution related problems and leading to cleaner energy. Metal-based composite materials are found to be a potential solution to such problem owing to its higher strength to weight ratio achieved by tailoring the reinforcement-matrix composition and distribution. This chapter attempts to highlight the fundamental aspects of these composite materials and their performance against the conventional metallic class of materials along with the recent development in advanced composite materials. To rightly align with the central theme of this book, this chapter mainly focus on the role of composite materials on the improvement in tribological performance of automobile and aerospace engines. Special attention is given to the advanced composite materials that are of current research focus for improved tribological and high temperature performance in aerospace engine applications. A complete survey on the available work in this direction is being presented along with the challenges and future prospect.