History
- Wood is a natural composite that was used prehistorically by mankind and is still used widely in construction and scaffolding.
- Wattle and daub is one of the oldest man-made composite materials, at over 6000 years old.
- Cartonnage layers of linen or papyrus soaked in plaster dates to the First Intermediate Period of Egypt c. 2181-2055 BC and was used for death masks
- Concrete was described by Vitruvius, writing around 25 BC in his Ten Books on Architecture, distinguished types of aggregate appropriate for the preparation of lime mortars. For structural mortars, he recommended pozzolana, which were volcanic sands from the sandlike beds of Puteoli brownish-yellow-gray in color near Naples and reddish-brown at Rome. Vitruvius specifies a ratio of 1 part lime to 3 parts pozzolana for cements used in buildings and a 1:2 ratio of lime to pulvis Puteolanus for underwater work, essentially the same ratio mixed today for concrete used at sea.
- Papier-mâché, a composite of paper and glue, has been used for hundreds of years
- The first artificial fibre reinforced plastic was bakelite which dates to 1907, although natural polymers such as shellac predates it
Read more about this topic: Composite Material
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