Ramos M. Abrahão

The combination of advanced materials is still a significantly complex subject, but it has led to their application in many sectors. Providing characteristics such as flexibility and specific localised properties, it allows for excellent specific characteristics for aircraft components, wind blades and others, reducing weight and increasing performance. Among these special materials, composites are most commonly used in the aeronautics industry, as they have characteristics that, in addition to gaining properties, reduce weight by around 25% and allow for a gain in performance compared to metal structures already in use. Amongst these, polymer composites (polyimides) are standing out, in which PEI (polyetherimide) has received the most research attention due to its low cost, easy handling and because it shows superior results compared to other polymers in numerous tests such as fatigue, traction and impact.