2D Meso-Scale Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of Polymer-Mineral Composite Material

Abstract

Polymer-mineral composite material is prepared by using modified epoxy resin as binder and mineral particles as aggregates. Its excellent damping characteristic and low thermal expansion make it ideal in manufacturing machine tool beds. However, the properties of this material depend on its formula and structure, so it is very important to develop an efficient method to numerically model the materials and then to optimize their properties. In this paper, 2D meso-scale finite element modeling is presented for numerical analysis of the mechanical properties of polymer-mineral composite material. The material was treated as a 2-phase composite composed of aggregates and binder which was epoxy resin mixed with fillers. Based on grading curve, the weights of aggregates were converted into the corresponding area, the aggregate particles were randomly generated and assembled with binder to produce the model. And then 2D numerical simulations were conducted under different gradations. The results show that: (1) the 2D FE model is very close to the real polymer-mineral composite material in the aspect of density and aggregate shapes and sizes, which validate the fidelity of the generated finite element model and numerical analysis method; (2) by comparing the materials’ properties under four different gradations, it can be found that the materials with SAC gradation have the best mechanical property.