Effect of filler addition and strain rate on the compressive strength of silica styrene‐butadiene rubber‐filled epoxy composites

Abstract

AbstractThe compressive failure of nanoparticle silica and styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR)‐filled epoxy composites has been investigated. Significant increase in compressive strength, compressive modulus, work of yielding, and work of fracture was noted for the cases of composites containing low weight fraction of silica and SBR. The compressive strength is about 4–10 times of the tensile strength for composite material containing different weight percent of SBR. Increase in compressive yield strength and decrease in compressive ultimate strength have been observed with crosshead speed 0.1–100 mm/s over all weight content of SBR and silica. The material shows increased elastic region with increasing crosshead speed. This indicates that the material is expected to behave more elastically and less plastically over all the crosshead speeds. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers