Abstract
The effect of interfacial bonding of glass hollow microspheres and a polymer matrix on the elastic properties of syntactic foam was investigated using representative volume element (RVE) models, including partially debonded interfaces. Finite element analysis, with models having different debonding geometries, was performed to numerically estimate the elastic behavior of the models. The models consisted of bonded and debonded regions of interfaces; the bonded region was treated as the perfectly bonded interface, while the Coulomb friction model was used to describe the debonded region with a small friction coefficient. The changes in the tensile and compressive moduli of the foams were investigated in terms of the degree of interfacial debonding and debonding geometry.
Highlights
Polymer-based syntactic foams are a class of composites that have hollow microspheres in a matrix material
In order to ensure the statistical homogeneity of the model associated by randomly distributed debonded microsphere, five different representative volume elements (RVEs), having the same ξ of
The standard deviations of the moduli were ~3.7 MPa in compression and ~7.0 MPa in tension, which are negligibly small compared to the obtained moduli, accounting for less than 0.3% of the averaged modulus in tension and even less in compression. This indicates that the RVE consisting of 30 microspheres is large enough to statistically represent the behavior of the syntactic foam with randomly arranged debonded microspheres
Summary
Polymer-based syntactic foams are a class of composites that have hollow microspheres in a matrix material. These are usually made of a polymer matrix reinforced by glass hollow microspheres. The glass hollow microspheres consist of a thin-walled stiff outer glass shell and an inner gas, which are responsible for the unique properties of syntactic foam, including extremely low apparent density, good specific strength, and low thermal conductivity [1,2,3,4]. In the case of syntactic foam, the ratio of inner to outer radius of the hollow microsphere has been identified as an additional important factor which determines its properties [8]. Since many microstructural parameters as listed above can affect the foam properties, developing analytical and/or numerical models in order to independently distinguish the effect of each parameter for the design and optimization of syntactic foam is important
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