Co-Continuous Composite Materials for Stiffness, Strength, and Energy Dissipation

Co-continuous polymer composite materials are designed and fabricated to achieve enhancements in stiffness, strength, and energy dissipation. The mutual constraints between two phases of the co-continuous structure enable enhanced dissipation by spreading of the plastic deformation and by containing cracking leading to a multitude of non-catastrophic dissipative events, which also provides damage tolerance of the co-continuous composites. [GRAPHICS] .