A micromechanical model for effective elastic properties of particulate composites with imperfect interfacial bonds

A micromechanical model for effective elastic properties of particle filled acrylic composites with imperfect interfacial bonds is proposed. The constituents are treated as three distinct phases, consisting of agglomerate of particles, bulk matrix and interfacial transition zone around the agglomerate. The influence of the interfacial transition zone on the overall mechanical behavior of composites is studies analytically and experimentally. Test data on particle filled acrylic composites with three different interfacial properties are also presented. The comparison of analytical simulation with experimental data demonstrated the validity of the proposed micromechanical model with imperfect interface. Both the experimental results and analytical prediction show that interfacial conditions have great influence on the elastic properties of particle filled acrylic composites. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.