Evaluation of glass geometry on deformation behavior particulate-filled composite materials using X-ray computed tomography

Abstract

The deformation behavior of epoxy reinforced with different shapes and content of glass fillers was investigated through combination of X-ray computed tomography and 3D digital image correlation. Spherical, flake and rod shaped glass fillers were dispersed into a mixture of epoxy resin with three different mass fractions of 5%, 10%, and 15%. The samples were indented using hardness testing machine. In order to quantify the amount of deformation, the samples were scanned before and after the indentation test by using X-ray CT. The displacement and strain field underneath the indentation site for all filler types and mass fractions were measured through correlation of before and after scan data. It was found that hardness increases with increased amount of filler and rod shaped filler gave the highest hardness values followed by the flake filler; the composite with spherical fillers had the lowest hardness values. The displacement fields evaluated were in close agreement with the measured hardness values. Displacement and strain values were higher for spherical filler samples while the fiber filler samples led to lower deformation indicators. © 2017 OOSV. All rights reserved.