Mechanical behavior of entangled metallic wire mesh–silicone rubber interpenetrating phase composites under quasistatic compression

Abstract

Interpenetrating phase composites (IPCs) with porous metal materials as the matrix and polymer materials as the reinforcement, which have a broad application prospect, have both the high strength of metal materials and the high energy absorption capacity of polymer materials. Entangled metallic wire materials are a new type of porous material with damping characteristics, which is an excellent choice for use as the matrix of IPCs. In the present work, a novel entangled metallic wire material–silicone rubber IPC is developed through the vacuum infiltration method with the entangled wire material as the matrix and silicone rubber as the reinforcing element. The mechanical properties (loss factor and tangent modulus) of the as-synthesized composites are characterized through compression tests. More specifically, the effects of key experimental parameters (strain) and material properties (matrix density, wire diameter, and anisotropy) on the mechanical properties of the composites are analyzed in detail. It is found that with the introduction of interfacial friction, the loss factor of the composites becomes higher than those of the pure entangled metallic wire material and silicone rubber; in particular, the tangent modulus is significantly enhanced. The complex structural characteristics of the proposed composite enable the loss factor and tangent modulus to exhibit a nonlinear relationship with the density over a range of displacement values. Moreover, the smaller the wire diameter is, the greater the loss factor of the composites is, while the tangent modulus exhibits the opposite trend. The unique wire contact form and preparation process endow the composites with nonlinear properties in the molding direction as well as pronounced anisotropy characteristics. HIGHLIGHT A novel interpenetrating phase composite is proposed. The composite quasistatic curve is nonlinear with excellent mechanical properties. The improved energy consumption properties are due to the interfacial friction. The increase in wire density greatly improves the elastic modulus of the composite. The composite is anisotropic with a better bearing capacity in the molding direction.