Missouri S&T Scholar's Mine Research RepositoryMissouri S&T Research
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Experimental Behavior of Prestressed Concrete Beams Strengthened with FRP
The idea of combining two different materials to make a single, superior composite material is not new. Some of the earliest building materials were composite . The ancient Egyptians reinforced their mud bricks with straw to make them stronger. Although the concept of fiber reinforced materials can be traced back to the use of straw as reinforcement in bricks manufactured by the Israelites in 800 B.C., and in the early 1930s to the use of short glass fibers in cement in United States, fiber reinforced resin matrix materials (or fiber reinforced composites as we know them today) were not developed until the early 1940s.

After World War II, US manufacturers began producing fiberglass and polyester resin composite boat hulls and radomes (i.e., radar cover). The automotive industry first introduced composites into vehicle bodies in the early 1950s. Because of the highly desirable light weight, corrosion resistance, and high strength characteristics in composites, research emphasis went into improving the material science and manufacturing process. That effort led to the development of two new manufacturing techniques known as filament winding and pultrusion, which helped advance the composite technology into new markets. There was a great demand by the recreation industry for composite fishing rods, tennis rackets, ski equipment and golf clubs. The aerospace industry began to use composites in pressure vessels, containers, and nonstructural aircraft components. The US Navy applied composites in mine sweeping vessels, crew boats and submarine parts. The domestic consumers began installing composite bath tubs, covers, railings, ladders and electrical equipment. The first civil application in composites was a dome structure built in Benghazi in 1968, and other structures followed slowly.