We see composites every day, such as reinforced concrete and masonry.

But not many people know there are substances that are called natural composites.

Wood is also counted as a natural composite.

1. Is Wood A Composite Material?

Short Answer: Yes, wood is a composite material.

Some may wonder why wood is a composite material in details.

First of all, we define something that is made from two or more different materials as a composite material.

A composite material will have different characteristics from original material, and we usually create composites to get stronger and more durable material.

For example, there is no doubt that the composite wood is a composite material which is made of wood fibres and plastic material.

Composite wood tends to be stronger and more versatile than traditional wood material.

How about the natural wood, for example, the lumber that is cut from the tree, is it a composite material?

Wood is a natural composite material because there are more than 2 materials inside the wood.

Wood is a naturally occurring mixture that is composed of cellulose fibres, lignin matrix, and hemicellulose.

Cellulose fibres are actually weak substance, and lignin and hemicellulose are even weaker. The long cellulose fibres held together by lignin and hemicellulose.

Lignin is the key to the hardness of wood and the color of wood, it binds cellulose together.

All of the materials, they become much stronger on combination, even they are weak as an individual. That is also the reason why you can not break a hardwood easily.