Compression properties of polymeric syntactic foam composites under cyclic loading. (1st April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yousaf, Zeshan; Smith, Michael; Potluri, Prasad; Parnell, William
• Is Part Of: Composites. Number 186(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-04-01
• Subjects: Particle reinforced composites -- Mechanical properties -- Damage tolerance -- Syntactic foams; Composite materials -- Periodicals; Materials science -- Periodicals; Composite materials; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 620.118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.107764
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-8368

Abstract

Abstract: In the present work, polymer-based syntactic foams were studied under cyclic compression in order to investigate their compressibility, recoverability, energy dissipation and damage tolerance. These syntactic foams were manufactured by adding hollow polymer microspheres of various sizes and wall thicknesses into a polyurethane matrix. The associated loading and unloading curves during cyclic testing were recorded, revealing the viscoelastic nature of the materials. SEM images of the samples were obtained in order to study potential damage mechanisms during compression. It was observed that these syntactic foams exhibit high elastic recovery and energy dissipation over a wide range of compressional strains and the addition of polymer microspheres mitigates the damage under compressional loading.