Mechanical Characterization of Silica Reinforced-PTFE Matrix Composites

✍ Scribed by S.A. Martins; F.W. Dias; L.S. Nunes; L.A. Borges; J.R. D’Almeida

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 300 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1877-7058
• DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2011.04.442

✦ Synopsis

Most of the currently available technologies require the use of materials with unusual combinations of properties that cannot be met by metallic alloys, ceramic or conventional polymeric materials. Polymer composites are designed to meet the requirements and challenges of industry, where there is an increasingly growing demand for special materials, involving the best cost-benefit relationship. The main objective of this work is to characterize a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) matrix reinforced with silica particles. The approached used consisted in investigating the macroscopic mechanical behavior and correlating the experimental results with a suitable viscoelastic analytical model. Moreover, to assess the influence of the particles on the viscosity, stiffness and strength of the composite, the behavior of the PTFE-silica composite is compared with the behavior of the bare PTFE matrix.