Designation: D 3878 – 04a

Standard Terminology for

Composite Materials1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation D 3878; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.

1. Scope breather string, n—a string, composed of a material such as

1.1 These definitions cover generic terms, including terms glass, that provides a vacuum path from the laminate to a
of commercial importance, that appear in one or more stan- breather.
dards on composites containing high-modulus (greater than bundle—a general term for a collection of essentially parallel
20-GPa (3 3 106 psi)) fibers. filaments.
1.2 The definitions cover, in most cases, special meanings carbon fiber precursor—a material from which carbon fiber
used in the composites industry. No attempt has been made to is made by pyrolysis. Polyacrylonitrile, rayon, or pitch fibers
include common meanings of the same terms as used outside are commonly used precursors.
the composites industry. catenary:
1.3 Definitions included have, in general, been approved as filament catenary—the difference in length of the filaments
standard. in a specified length of tow, end, or strand as a result of
unequal tension; the tendency of some filaments in a taut
2. Referenced Documents horizontal tow, end, or strand to sag lower than others.
2.1 ASTM Standards: 2 roving catenary—the difference in length of the ends, tows,
D 123 Terminology Relating to Textiles or strands in a specified length of roving as a result of
2.2 Military Standard: unequal tension; the tendency of some ends, tows, or strands
MIL-HDBK-173 in a taut horizontal roving to sag lower than others.
caul, n—a flat or contoured tool used to distribute pressure and
3. Terminology to define a surface for the top of the laminate during laminate
3.1 Definitions: consolidation or cure.
composite:
645° laminate—a balanced symmetric laminate composed of composite material—a substance consisting of two or more
only +45° plies and −45° plies. materials, insoluble in one another, which are combined to
angleply laminate—any balanced laminate consisting of plus form a useful engineering material possessing certain prop-
and minus theta plies where theta is an acute angle with erties not possessed by the constituents.
respect to a reference direction.
balanced laminate—any laminate that contains one ply of DISCUSSION—a composite material is inherently inhomogeneous on a
microscopic scale but can often be assumed to be homogeneous on a
minus theta orientation with respect to the laminate principal
macroscopic scale for certain engineering applications. The constitu-
axis for every identical ply with a plus theta orientation. ents of a composite retain their identities: they do not dissolve or
braided fabric—see braided fabric under fabric. otherwise merge completely into each other, although they act in
concert.
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These definitions are under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D30 on discontinuous fiber-reinforced composite—any composite
Composite Materials and are the direct responsibilities of Subcommittee D30.01 on material consisting of a matrix reinforced by discontinuous
Editorial and Resource Standards. fibers. The fibers may be whiskers or chopped fibers.
Current edition approved May 1, 2004. Published June 2004. Originally
approved in 1981. Last previous edition approved in 2004 as D 3878 – 04. fabric-reinforced composite—any composite material con-
2
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or sisting of a matrix reinforced by fabric (woven, knitted, or
contact ASTM Customer Service at [email protected]. For Annual Book of ASTM braided assemblages of fibers).
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
the ASTM website.
fiber-reinforced composite—any composite material consist-
3
Available from ASTM International as The Composite Materials Handbook— ing of a matrix reinforced by continuous or discontinuous
MIL 17. Also available as MIL-HDBK-17 from Standardization Documents Order fibers.
Desk, DODSSP, Bldg. 4, Section D, 700 Robbins Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111-
5094

Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.

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 D 3878 – 04a
filamentary composite—a composite material reinforced debond—a deliberate separation of a bonded joint or interface,
with continuous fibers. usually for repair or rework purposes.
unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite—any fiber- debulk, v—to decrease voids between lamina before laminate
reinforced composite with all fibers aligned in a single consolidation through use of vacuum or by mechanical
direction. means.
continuous filament yarn, n—two or more continuous fila- DISCUSSION—Laminae can be debulked at ambient or elevated
ments twisted into a single fiber bundle. temperatures.
crossply laminate—a laminate composed of only 0 and 90°
plies. This is not necessarily symmetric. delamination—separation of plies in a laminate. This may be
dam, n—a solid material (such as silicone rubber, steel, or local or may cover a large area in the laminate.
aluminum), used in processing composites, to contain the denier, n—a direct numbering system for expressing linear
matrix material within defined boundaries or to prevent density, equal to the mass in grams per 9000 metres of yarn,
crowning of a processing bag. filament, fiber, or other textile strand.
damage, n—in structures and structural mechanics, a struc- disbond—an area within a bonded interface between two
tural anomaly in material or structure created by manufac- adherents in which an adhesive or cohesive failure has
turing or service usage. occurred. It may occur at any time during the life of the
damage resistance, n—in structures and structural mechan- structure and may arise from a wide variety of causes. It is
ics, a measure of the relationship between the force, energy, sometimes used to describe an area of separation between
or other parameter(s) associated with an event or sequence of two laminae in the finished laminate (the term “delamina-
events and the resulting damage size and type. tion” is preferred).
discontinuous fiber—a polycrystalline or amorphous fiber
DISCUSSION—Damage resistance increases as the force, energy, or that is discontinuous within the sample or component or that
other parameter increases for a given size or type of damage. Con-
versely, damage resistance increases as damage decreases, for a given
has one or both ends inside of the stress field under
applied force, energy, or other parameter. Damage resistance and consideration. The minimum diameter of a discontinuous
damage tolerance are often confused. A material or structure with high fiber is not limited, but the maximum diameter may not
damage resistance will incur less physical damage from a given event. exceed 0.25 mm (0.010 in.).
Materials or structures with high damage tolerance may incur varying end, n—in fibrous composites, a general term for a continuous,
levels of physical damage but will have high amounts of remaining ordered assembly of essentially parallel, collimated fila-
functionality. A damage-resistant material or structure may, or may not,
ments, with or without twist.
be considered damage tolerant.
DISCUSSION—This term covers tow, strand, sliver, yarn, and roving.
damage tolerance, n—1) in structures and structure materi- The relationship between fiber form terms is shown in Table X1.1.
als, a measure of the relationship between damage size and
type and the level of a performance parameter, such as fabric—a planar textile (Synonym: cdth)
stiffness or strength, at which the structure or structural braided fabric, n—a cloth constructed by a braiding process.
material can operate for a particular loading condition; 2) in knitted fabric, n—a cloth constructed by a knitting process.
structural systems, a measure of the ability of such systems nonwoven fabric, n—a cloth constructed by bonding or
to function at designated performance parameters (for ex- interlocking, or both (but not interlacing) fiber by any
ample, magnitude, length of time, and type of loading(s)) combination of mechanical, chemical, thermal, or solvent
without system failure in the presence of a particular or means.
specified level of damage. plied yarn, n—a yarn formed by twisting together two or
more single yarns in one operation.
DISCUSSION—Damage tolerance involves, and can be provided by, a
number of factors operating at a number of levels: structural material, DISCUSSION—Plying, which is done in the opposite direction from the
structural, and overall system. These factors include 1) basic material twist of each of the simple yarns, serves to counter the tendency of
ability to operate with damage present (often referred to as the residual simple yarns to untwist.
strength aspect), 2) damage growth resistance and containment pro-
vided by material and structural considerations, and 3) system inspec- woven fabric, n—a cloth constructed by a weaving process.
tion and maintenance plans which allow the damage to be detected and fiber, n—one or more filaments in an ordered assemblage.
corrected and which depend upon material, structural, and operational
DISCUSSION—There are a number of general and specific terms that
considerations.
define specific types of fiber forms. The relationship between fiber form
Damage tolerance increases as the damage size increases for a given
terms is shown in Table 1.
level of a performance parameter. Damage tolerance increases as the
level of the performance parameter increases for a given damage size. fiber content—the amount of fiber present in a composite
Damage tolerance depends upon the type of loading which is applied. expressed either as percent by weight or percent by volume.
For example, the damage tolerance for a compressive load can be, and
This is sometimes stated as a fraction, that is, fiber volume
generally is, different than for the same level of tensile load.
Damage resistance is often confused with damage tolerance. Dam- fraction.
age tolerance is directly related only to the size and type of damage fiber volume fraction—see fiber content.
while being only indirectly related to how the damage was created (see filament, n—a fibrous form of matter with an aspect ratio >10
damage resistance). Thus, damage tolerance is distinct from damage and an effective diameter <1 mm. (See also monofilament.)
resistance.

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 D 3878 – 04a
TABLE 1 Fiber Forms nate. Usually the x-axis and the y-axis lie in the plane of the
Continuous Filaments Discontinuous Filaments laminate and the x-axis is the reference axis from which ply
Little angle is measured.
Little or
Twist Twisted Twisted or No
No Twist
Twist laminate midplane—the plane that is equidistant from both
Tow,A *B PC —D — surfaces of the laminate.
strand, laminate principal axis—the laminate coordinate axis that
sliver
Single P * P — coincides with the direction of maximum inplane Young’s
yarn modulus.
Plied P — P —
yarn
lay-up, n—(1) the stack of plies in specified sequence and
RovingE * P — — orientation before cure or consolidation; (2) the complete
end (generic term that can be applied to any of the above) stack of plies, bagging material, breather material, and so on
Chopped — — — P
fiber
before cure or consolidation; and (3) a description of the
Whisker — — (single crystal) component materials, geometry, and so on of a laminate.
A
Small filament count. lay-up, v—to stack plies of material in specified sequence and
B
*—Secondary/alternate definition. orientation.
C
P—primary/preferred definition. lay-up code—a designation system for abbreviating the stack-
D
—not applicable.
E
Large filament count. ing sequence of laminated composites.
mandrel—a form, fixture, or male mold used as the base for
DISCUSSION—Filaments may be essentially continuous (aspect ratio production of a part in processes such as lay-up or filament
on the order of 105 or larger) or discontinuous. Whiskers are the special winding.
case of single crystal discontinuous filaments. material form—the contour, arrangement, and structure of an
unconsolidated composite material, especially with regard to
filament count—number of filaments in the cross section of a
the geometry and nature of the reinforcement. Factors
fiber bundle.
considered part of the material form include, but are not
fill, n—in a woven fabric, the yarn running from selvage to
limited to: reinforcement diameter, reinforcement length (for
selvage at right angles to the warp. MIL-HDBK-17
discontinuous reinforcements), tow size or count, fabric
filler—in composite materials, a primarily inert solid constitu-
areal weight, fabric style, reinforcement content, and ply
ent added to the matrix to modify the composite properties or
thickness.
to lower cost.
matrix, n—the continuous constituent of a composite material,
float, n—in woven fabric, the portion of a warp (or fill) yarn
which surrounds or engulfs embedded filler or reinforce-
that extends unbound over two ro more fill (or warp) yarns.
ment.
D 123
matrix content—the amount of matrix present in a composite
gel time, n—in thermosetting polymers, the period of time
expressed either as percent by weight or percent by volume.
from a predetermined starting point to the onset of gelation
For polymer matrix composites this is resin content.
as determined by a specific test method.
mold, n—the support structure that holds the laminate or
hybrid—(for composite materials) containing at least two
lay-up during the laminate consolidation process.
distinct types of matrix or reinforcement. Each matrix or
monofilament—a continuous filament strong enough to func-
reinforcement type can be distinct because of its a) physical
tion as a yarn in commercial textile operations or as an entity
or mechanical properties, or both, b) material form, or c)
in other operations.
chemical composition.
nonwoven fabric—See nonwoven fabric under fabric.
interlaminar—describing objects (for example, voids), events
off-axis laminate—a laminate whose principal axis is oriented
(for example, fracture), or fields (for example, stress) be-
at an angle theta other than 0 or 90° with respect to a
tween the laminae of a laminate.
reference direction, usually related to principal load or stress
intralaminar—describing objects (for example, voids), events
direction.
(for example, fracture), or fields (for example, stress) within
orthotropic material—a material in which a property of
the laminae of a laminate.
interest, at a given point, possesses three mutually perpen-
knit—a textile process that interlocks, in a specific pattern loop
dicular planes of symmetry, which taken together define the
of yarn by means of needles or wires.
principal material coordinate system.
knitted fabric—See knitted fabric under fabric.
pigment—a substance, generally in the form of fine particles,
lamina—a subunit of a laminate consisting of one or more
that is substantially insoluble in the matrix and is used
adjacent plies of the same material with identical orientation.
because of its color or decorative properties.
lamina orientation—same as ply orientation.
plied yarn—See plied yarn under yarn.
laminate—any fiber- or fabric-reinforced composite consisting
ply—(in laminar composites) the constituent single layer as
of laminae (plies) with one or more orientations with respect
used in fabricating, or occurring within a composite struc-
to some reference direction.
ture.
laminate coordinate axes—a set of coordinate axes, usually
ply coordinate axes—a set of Cartesian coordinates two of
right-handed Cartesian, used as reference in describing the
which lie within the plane of the ply, one axis of which is
directional properties and geometrical structure of the lami-

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 D 3878 – 04a
parallel to the principal fiber direction and the other axis increasing the strength, or stiffness, or both.
perpendicular to the principal fiber direction (the third axis is resin—a solid or pseudosolid organic material often of high
through the ply’s thickness). molecular weight, which exhibits a tendency to flow when
ply count, n—in laminated composite materials, the number of subjected to stress, usually has a softening or melting range,
plies or laminae used to construct the composite. and usually fractures conchoidally.
ply orientation—the acute angle (theta) including 90° be- resin content—see matrix content.
tween a reference direction and the ply principal axis. The roving, n—in fibrous composites, large filament count tow.
ply orientation is positive if measured counterclockwise (See also tow and filament count.)
from the reference direction and negative if measured satin, adj—description of a weave pattern in which warp yarns
clockwise. pass unbound (“float”) over several fill yarns before crossing
ply principal axis—the ply coordinate axis that coincides with under a single fill yarn.
the direction of maximum inplane Young’s modulus. For DISCUSSION—A satin weave is characterized by parallel fibers and no
balanced weave fabric either warp or fill direction may be diagonal pattern.
chosen.
preform, n—a preshaped fibrous reinforcement, normally selvage, n—the woven edge portion of a fabric parallel to the
without matrix, but often containing a binder to facilitate warp.
manufacture, formed by distribution of fibers to the approxi- single yarn—See single yarn under yarn.
mate contour and thickness of the finished part. stacking sequence—the arrangement of ply orientations and
prepreg—the admixture of fibrous reinforcement and poly- material components in a laminate specified with respect to
meric matrix used to fabricate composite materials. Its form some reference direction.
may be sheet, tape, or tow. For thermosetting matrices, it has staple, n—a collection of discontinuous filaments of spinnable
been partially cured to a controlled viscosity called “B length that are natural, manufactured directly in a short
stage.” length, or cut from continuous filaments.
quasi-isotropic laminate—a balanced and symmetric lami- strand—in fibrous composites, Synonym for tow.
nate for which a constitutive property of interest, at a given symmetric laminate—a laminate in which the stacking se-
point, displays isotropic behavior in the plane of the lami- quence for the plies located on one side of the geometric
nate. Common quasi-isotropic laminates are (0/660)s and midplane are the mirror image of the stacking sequence on
(0/645/90)s. the other side of the midplane.
tab, n—a piece of material used to hold the laminate specimen
DISCUSSION—Usually a quasi-isotropic laminate refers to elastic in a grip or fixture for testing so that the laminate is not
properties, for which case, the laminate contains equal numbers of
identical plies at k orientations such that the angles between the plies
damaged and is adequately supported.
are 180i/k (i = 0, 1 . . . k − 1); k > = 3. Other material properties may textile, n—a general term applied to fibers and organized
follow different rules. For example, thermal conductivity becomes assemblies of fibers with sufficient integrity to retain the
quasi-isotropic for k > = 2, while strength properties generally are not organization.
capable of true quasi-isotropy, only approximating this behavior.
DISCUSSION—Originally limited to woven fabrics, this term is now
reinforcement, n—in a composite material, the discrete con- also applied to fibers, yarn intermediates, yarns, woven and nonwoven
stituent of a composite material, either fiber or particle, fabrics, braids, knits, and preforms, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
which is contained within the matrix, with a purpose of

FIG. 1 Illustration of Textile Relationships

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 D 3878 – 04a
thermoplastic—a plastic that repeatedly can be softened by (2) a group of yarns in long lengths and approximately
heating and hardened by cooling through a temperature parallel, put on beams or warp reels for further textile
range characteristic of the plastic, and that in the softened processing including weaving, knitting, twisting, dyeing,
state can be shaped by flow into articles by molding or and so forth. D 123
extrusion. warp nested, adj—laid up so that warp plies alternate in the
thermoset—a class of polymers that, when cured using heat, pattern: warp surface up, warp surface down.
chemical, or other means, changes into a substantially warp surface, n—the ply surface that shows the larger area of
infusible and insoluble material. warp tows with respect to fill tows.
tow—in fibrous composites, a continuous, ordered assembly of DISCUSSION—Fabrics in which both surfaces show an equal area of
essentially parallel, collimated filaments, normally without warp tows with respect to fill tows do not have a warp surface.
twist and of continuous filaments (Synonyms: strand and
silver). weave, v—interlaces, in a specific pattern, strands or yarns
twist, n—in fibrous composites, a measure of the number of oriented in two or more directions in a planar textile process.
turns per unit length a fiber bundle makes around its axis. winding—a process in which continuous material is applied
under controlled tension to a form in a predetermined
DISCUSSION—Twist is noted as being either ’S’-twist or ’Z’-twist, geometric relationship to make a structure. A matrix material
where the shape of the letters are used as a mnemonic to describe the
direction of the twist. Following the right-hand rule along the axis of
to bind the fibers together may be added before, during or
the fiber bundle, ’Z’-twist is a positive twist and ’S’-twist is a negative after winding. Filament winding is the most common type.
twist. In addition, ’U’ is often used to represent no twist (untwisted) and woven fabric—See woven fabric under fabric.
’N’ no twist (never twisted). yarn—in fibrous composites, a continuous, ordered assembly
of essentially parallel, collimated filaments, normally with
void—any pocket of enclosed gas or air within a composite.
twist, and of either discontinuous or continuous filaments.
void content, n—the volume percentage of voids in a com-
single yarn, n—an end in which each filament follows the
posite.
same twist.
warp, n—(1) the yarn running lengthwise in a woven fabric;

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