The history of composite materials can be traced back to ancient times. Straw or wheat straw reinforced clay and reinforced concrete, which have been used for hundreds of years since ancient times, are made of two materials. In the 1940s, due to the needs of the aviation industry, glass fiber reinforced plastics (commonly known as glass fiber reinforced plastics) was developed, and the name composite material came into being. After the 1950s, high strength and high modulus fibers such as carbon fiber, graphite fiber and boron fiber were successively developed. In the 1970s, aramid fiber and silicon carbide fiber appeared. These high-strength and high-modulus fibers can be compounded with synthetic resin, carbon, graphite, ceramic, rubber and other non-metallic matrix or aluminum, magnesium, titanium and other metal matrix to form a distinctive composite material.
The development of modern high-tech cannot be separated from composite materials. Composite materials [2] play a very important role in the development of modern science and technology. The depth of research and application of composite materials and the speed and scale of their production and development have become one of the important indicators to measure the advanced level of a country's science and technology. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the global composite material market has grown rapidly, especially in Asia and China. From 2003 to 2008, the average annual growth rate of China was 15%, that of India was 9.5%, while that of Europe and North America was only 4%.
In the 1960s, in order to meet the needs of materials used in cutting-edge technologies such as aerospace, we have developed and produced composites reinforced with high-performance fibers (such as carbon fiber, boron fiber, aramid fiber, silicon carbide fiber, etc.), with a specific strength greater than 4 × 10 cm, specific modulus greater than 4 × 10cm。 In order to distinguish from the first generation of glass fiber reinforced resin composites, this composite material is called advanced composite material. According to different matrix materials, advanced composites are divided into resin matrix, metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites. Its service temperature is 250~350 ℃, 350~1200 ℃ and above 1200 ℃ respectively. In addition to being used as structural materials, advanced composite materials can also be used as functional materials, such as gradient composite materials (functional composite materials whose chemical and crystallographic composition, structure, void, etc. are continuously changing in space), smart composite materials (functional composite materials with sensing, processing and execution functions and can adapt to environmental changes), bionic composite materials, stealth composite materials, etc.
In China (mainland) industry in 2007, the output of composite glass fiber was 1.6 million tons, of which 1.155 million tons were used in the FRP industry; The output of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) is 1.35 million tons, of which 688000 tons are used in the FRP field, accounting for 51%; The output of vinyl resin is 12640 tons, and that of gel coat resin is 15870 tons.
In 2008, the economy of the whole composite industry in China was stable throughout the year, and the output increased by about 12%. Enterprises above the designated size of the industry realized industrial added value of 8.67 billion yuan, total industrial output value of 25.8 billion yuan, new product output value of 1.16 billion yuan, and sales output value of 25.3 billion yuan.
At this stage, China's FRP and composite industry is facing a new period of great development, such as large-scale municipal construction in the process of urbanization, the use and large-scale development of new energy, the introduction of environmental protection policies, the development of the automobile industry, large-scale railway construction, large aircraft projects, etc. Driven by the huge market demand, the development of composite material industry will have a very broad development space.
Since the beginning of 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have jointly formulated and issued the draft of the Decision on Accelerating the Cultivation of Strategic Emerging Industries. After half a year of consultation, the main fields have expanded from 7 to 9, including two special functions and high-performance composite materials.
After the "Top Ten Industrial Revitalization Plan", "strategic emerging industries" has been considered as another major measure to revitalize the economy. Since then, large-scale government investment has also been widely expected by the market, so this is also considered as another large-scale industrial investment plan after the national "4 trillion" investment plan.