Polymer Composites Testing and Analysis

Researchers have embraced polymer composites because of their lightweight, favorable mechanical characteristics, and alternative manufacturing processes as compared to other composite designs. This chapter initially summarizes the research efforts in analyzing the polymeric composites through chromatography and spectroscopy analysis along with a few case studies. In the further section, the effect of the incorporation of fillers and other reinforcements on the degree of thermal stability of the composite materials and its analytical techniques have been discussed followed by the measurement of significant mechanical parameters and associated testing. The last section of the chapter deals with the morphological techniques (SEM and TEM) that provide information about the microstructure of the polymeric composites and X-ray diffraction for investigations of crystal structures.