Elastic modulus prediction for hybrid polymer composites

Abstract

To improve on the mechanical properties of polymers in general, the concept of hybrid composites was developed by using two or more different reinforcements in the same matrix, or by using two or more different sizes of the same reinforcement (auto-hybrid composites). In this case, most of the literature results showed that the resulting elastic modulus can be well approximated by the simple rule of mixture (linear additive law) from the tensile modulus of each reinforcement used alone. But is some cases, a positive deviation from this linear approximation was reported up to a point where an optimum composition can give a modulus above the value of both reinforcements used separately. In this work, a simple model is presented to show that positive deviations are possible and the optimum reinforcement ratio is around 25/75 in terms of the lowest/highest reinforcing particle. The model is also compared with literature data where good qualitative agreements are obtained as a first approximation.