Prediction of the effects of particle and matrix morphologies on Al2O3 particle/polymer composites by finite element method

By utilizing the finite element method combined with cell models, the effects of soft matrix morphologies composites with hard reinforcing particles are investigated. A new model not considering the particle has been used for our research with the axisymmetric unit cell model, compared with the classical axisymmetric cell model, taking the particle into consideration. The cylindrical and the spherical inclusion have been calculated using the two different models. The effects of matrix flow behavior on the stress distribution of the matrix have been derived using the both models. The results show that the cylindrical particle has smaller stress than the spherical one. The two different models give the same stress distribution on the matrix in spite of the matrix morphologies.