Composite materials consist of two or more components that retain their distinct identity in the final product. Their finished product generally has better properties than their separate materials. This is the greatest advantage of them. Modern composite materials are often lighter, stronger than those of the traditional materials. Fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) is a kind of composite material which is made from fiberglass woven roving, fiberglass mat or fiberglass cloth combined with chemical resins, but it has much higher strength than either the fiberglass material or the resin. It is much lighter than the traditional metals.

The use of composite materials dates back to ancient times. People rely on them to provide a mixture with higher strength for building homes and public buildings. For example, they blend the clay with rice straw or wheat straw to make the mixture to build the houses with higher strength than the clay without straw. The straw reinforced clay has been used from ancient times till now. Another example is the concrete which is made from cement, sand, gravel and water. It has been used for hundreds of years as a building material. In recent years, the development of composite materials has made great progress. The first modern composite material is the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) which is well know for its use in the manufacture of cars, boats, windows and doors, tables and seats and so on.  

Glass fiber was invented in the 1940s. The combination of glass fiber with chemical resins created the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP). Since then, the term composite material has been appeared. Varieties of them have been greatly developed from then on. After the 1950s, high-strength and high-modulus fibers such as carbon fiber, graphite fiber and boron fiber were successively developed. In the 1970s, aramid fibers and silicon carbide fibers appeared. These high-strength, high-modulus fibers are combined with non-metallic substrates or metal substrates to form unique composite materials.

Composite materials have made great contributions to the development of modern high technology. They play a very important role in the science and technology. The future of them is vast. Fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) is widely used as insulation building materials. FRP pipelines have become the choice for underground pipes instead of using steel or iron pipes in the past. FRP pipelines are corrosive resistent and more resilient and can save cost. There are varieties of them such as fiberglass composite material, carbon fiber composite material, aramid fiber composite material and so on. They are extensively used in aviation, construction, automobile, marine, petrochemical, electrical insulation, wind energy and other fields.