The key features of these materials are given for individual material in the following.
- Higher use temperature about 300
- Difficult to fabricate
What are the problems with the use of polymer matrix materials?
- Limited temperature range.
- Susceptibility to environmental degradation due to moisture, radiation, atomic oxygen (in space)
- Low transverse strength.
- High residual stress due to large mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between fiber and matrix.
- Polymer matrix cannot be used near or above the glass transition temperature.