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Mechanical properties of ultra low density glass micro-sphere filled syntactic foam composites
Published in Peter J. Moss, Rajesh P. Dhakal, Progress in Mechanics of Structures and Materials, 2020
Glass microspheres or microballoons have commonly been used for many years as fillers in paints, caulk, polyester putty, explosives, sealants and insulating coatings. Glass microspheres with diameters ranging from 5 to 125 microns and densities in the order of 125 to 700 kg/m3 are currently commercially available. The relatively low density, low cost and ease of manufacturing of glass microspheres have lead to the development of three phase composites consisting of microspheres embedded in thermosetting matrices such as epoxy and polyester. Glass microsphere composites (GMC) are classified as syntactic foams when the microsphere content is relatively high. The specific gravity of most GMCs previously developed is about an order of magnitude higher than those of polymeric foams such as polystyrene and polyurethane, which typically have specific gravities lower than 0.1; however their void content is rather low and the mechanical properties are an order of magnitude higher in comparison to polymeric foams. For this reason GMCs are serious contenders in many structural applications, especially where low weight and high strength are of paramount importance. One of main forms in which GMCs are employed is as core material for sandwich construction: their better mechanical performance makes them attractive over polymeric foams. GMCs have many otheruseful properties such as low moisture absorption (due to closed cell structure), good vibration damping characteristics, insulating properties, fire resistance and microwave transparency (Gupta & Woldesenbet, 2003) which make them attractive for a wide variety of applications such as under water and deep sea structures, marine vessels, military and commercial aircraft, satellite components, automotive applications, sporting and protective gear.
Corrosion
Published in Mavis Sika Okyere, Mitigation of Gas Pipeline Integrity Problems, 2020
Syntactic foams are rigid materials originally developed for deep-water buoyancy. They are manufactured by welding glass microspheres with rigid resin systems. Glass microspheres are used in preference to either polymer or ceramic beads because they do not creep under the combination of pressure and temperature and offer a high insulation factor.
External Corrosion Protection
Published in Mavis Sika Okyere, Corrosion Protection for the Oil and Gas Industry, 2019
Syntactic foams are rigid materials originally developed for deep-water buoyancy. They are manufactured by welding glass microspheres with rigid resin systems. Glass microspheres are used in preference to either polymer or ceramic beads because they do not creep under the combination of pressure and temperature, and they offer a high insulation factor.
Modelling the Thermal Treatment and Expansion of Mineral Microspheres (Perlite) in Electric Furnace Through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): Effect of Process Conditions and Feed Characteristics
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 2023
Panagiotis M. Angelopoulos, Antonis Peppas, Maria Taxiarchou
The development of hollow, inorganic, and lightweight microparticles has gained attention due to their massive use as filler in composites, with glass microspheres being considered among the most commonly used ones due to their low weight, high sphericity, size homogeneity, and acceptable resistance to crushing. Typical applications are in syntactic foams (Anirudh et al. 2022; Bai et al. 2022; Sonti, Vincent, and Narala 2022), additive manufacturing (Brzeski et al. 2021), ceramics (Dong et al. 2020; Tatlisu et al. 2022), drilling fluid (Konbul, Ozbayoglu, and Mata 2020), cementitious composites (Cuevas et al. 2021; Scott et al. 2022), leading to weight, shrinkage and warpage reduction, improved rheology, thermal and sound insulating characteristics, or even providing with functional characteristics such as conductivity, wave absorption, and electromagnetic shielding (Bu et al. 2020).
Electrospun nanofiber composites with micro-/nano-particles for thermal insulation
Published in Advanced Composite Materials, 2019
Dasom Lee, Jaemin Jung, Gyu Hee Lee, Woo Il Lee
In this study, to overcome the disadvantages of SAG in terms of mechanical properties, a composite nanofiber mat of PAN polymer and SAG particles was prepared via the electrospinning method. Co-axial electrospinning method was applied to increase the fraction of SAG particles in the nanofiber mat. In this method, the composite SAG-nanofibers were reinforced with the PAN polymer injected through the outer nozzle and the fraction of the particles could be doubled. Therefore, the thermal insulation efficiency could be improved compared to the PAN-SAG composite structures fabricated via single nozzle electrospinning. To further increase the thermal insulation efficiency, HGMs were inserted between the layers as a spacer in the lamination process. Glass microspheres could enhance the insulation performance by 20% as compared to composites with no particles inserted. However, when SAG particles with low thermal conductivity were used as the interlayer spacer, no significant difference was observed as compared to the case wherein no particles were inserted. Therefore, the diameter and size of the inserted particles as a spacer and the density of the entire structure are major factors influencing the thermal insulation efficiency. By using this method, it is possible to fabricate flexible nanofibers and SAG composites with low thermal conductivity and they can be used as thermal insulation materials in flexible forms such as tape or mat.
Modelling of flexible aquatic plants from silicone syntactic foams
Published in Journal of Hydraulic Research, 2022
Alexander Sukhodolov, Tatiana Sukhodolova, Jochen Aberle
Syntactic silicone foam was developed specifically as improved buoyancy material for marine applications. These foams are composite materials in which hollow microspheres, or other small hollow particles, are dispersed (Puterman et al., 1980). Thereby the voids inside the material are enclosed within the hollow particles and are isolated from each other. Glass microspheres are typical light-weight fillers for composite polymeric materials of different kinds (Budov, 1994).