PREDICTIVE AND BOUNDARY MODULUS MODELS FOR COMPOSITES WITH GREATER THAN ONE E_f/E_m RATIOS

Abstract

The authors have proposed a simple model that predicts dental composites' (small glass particle composites) elastic moduli very well. The fit of this model to other small particle composite materials is demonstrated in this paper to be the best of the current models. With volume filler fractions varying from 0 to 1, and E_f/E_m ratios from 670, 000 to approximately 1.7, this paper compares results from the literature to the various models. The models analysed are, iso-strain, iso-stress, Hashin-Shtrikman's upper and lower, Ravichandran's upper and lower, Kerner's, Einstein's, Chantler's and the law of mixtures for particulate composites equations. The results show that the models that best predict the experimental data are Chantler's models. These models provide a guide to the expected modules for a two-phase reinforced particulate composite. At the extremes lie the Hashin-Shtrikman upper and lower boundaries which will include nearly all generated data but provide poor predictability.