• Neto, Rjl
• Lino, Fj
• Vasconcelos, Pv
• Van Hattum, F.

Abstract

Starting from epoxy based systems suited for high temperatures, different dispersed materials, like aluminium particles, milled carbon and glass fibres were added to the polymeric matrix for Rapid Tooling applications. Aluminium is intended to increase the thermal conductivity of the tool, while the milled fibres improve the wear resistance of the composite tool. In this communication mathematical models for mechanical behaviour of these epoxy matrix composites are discussed. The research is essentially focused on the elastic modulus, because the properties related with the material failure are difficult to analyse due to the complexity of the mechanism that controls the failure of polymer based composite materials. Halpin-Tsai-Nielsen and Halpin-Tsai models were applied to the particulate filled and fibre reinforced epoxy systems, respectively. A critical analysis of the mismatches detected between the experimental and the theoretical values allowed us to propose a semi-empirical model more suited to the results obtained. Parameters related with the particle-matrix and fibre-matrix interface influence the mechanical behaviour of the particulate and milled fibre reinforced composites.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• polymer
• Carbon
• aluminium
• glass
• glass
• wear resistance
• composite
• thermal conductivity