Controlled Interphases in Composite Materials

Book excerpt: The third International Conference on Composite Interfaces (ICCI-III) was held under the auspecies of ASM International, The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), The Edison Polymer Innovation Co. (EPIC), Case Western Reserve University, Nippon Glass Fiber Co., Nitto Boseki Co., Office of Naval Reserach (ONR), SAMPE Japan, Teijin Co., Mobay Co., Union Carbide Co., and Vetrotex Sain-Gobain. The underlying philosophy of the conference continues to be the promotion of fundamental understanding of the structure and role of composite interfaces. With the growth of composite interface studies, the research direction naturally changes from characterization and understanding of interfacial structure to controlling this structure. For this reason, the conference was subtitled, "Controlled Interphase Structure." The rather unfamiliar phrase "interphase" is used to emphasize the interfacial region whose properties are different from the bulk. The importance of the interphase to the mechanochemical properties has been rapidly recognized among composite researchers in recent years. The conference incorporated nine sessions. No concurrent sessions were planned because of the strong interest among panicipants and organizers to intennix researchers from different disciplines. Papers presented were redistributed in Pans I throught V. Because of this, both the conference and proceedings are not organized based on the traditional disciplines or materials, but rather around concepts.