Authors: K B Carlisle V Brito G M Gladysz W Ricci M Koopman
Publish Date: 2009/03/01
Volume: 44, Issue: 6, Pages: 1449-1455
Abstract
Millimetersized composite spherical shells have long been used in syntactic foams for deep sea buoyancy applications Recent advances in the understanding of particle settling behavior have revealed the enhanced packing factor of nonspherical shapes especially of ellipsoidal geometries In order to realize the packing advantage of ellipsoidal composite shells in syntactic foams the potential mechanical property penalty as compared with spherical shells must be understood The current investigation used linear elastic finite element models of isostatic compression to elucidate the mechanical difference between volumetrically identical spherical and ellipsoidal macroshells Experimental fabrication of glassfiber/epoxy composite ellipsoidal macroshells was also performed in order to verify the viability of the current industrial production process for nonspherical geometries The relevant trends of increasing predicted stresses with increased deviation from sphericity are discussed and their implications for syntactic foam properties and applications are discussed
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