An analysis of the effect of the diameters of glass microspheres on the mechanical behavior of glass-microsphere/epoxy-matrix composites

The mechanical properties of epoxy-resin/glass-microsphere composites can be suitably tailored by using microspheres with different diameters. Under uniaxial compression the complex stress state generated by the contribution of different events taking place, such as the rupture of the microsphere-resin interface or rupture of the microspheres, could be represented as a single damage parameter governed by the ratio between the wall thickness and the mean diameter of the microspheres. This ratio is: therefore, a useful fabrication parameter. Volume-fraction dependent contour lines are constructed on a chart of specific properties and their relative position is shown to be a function of the ratio of the glass microsphere wall thickness to its diameter. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.