Fracture and Impact Toughness of Syntactic Foam

Abstract

In this study we assessed the fracture toughness, KIc, and the impact resistance of syntactic foam reinforced with glass microspheres of different densities and polymer binder as a function of microstructures. The results showed that both KIc and the linear elastic energy release rate, GIc, increased with increasing volume fraction of glass microspheres, and the increase was higher for microspheres possessing a lower density. The impact resistance of syntactic foam decreased with the inclusion of hollow microspheres.