Mechanical properties of composites filled with SMA particles and short fibers

Abstract Shape memory alloys (SMAs) possess both sensing and actuating functions due to their shape memory effect, pseudo-elasticity, high damping capability and other remarkable properties. Combining the SMAs with other materials can create intelligent or smart composites by utilizing the unique properties of SMAs. In this paper, epoxy resin composites filled with NiTi alloy short fibers and particles were fabricated and their mechanical properties investigated. Owing to the addition of SMA fillers, the flexural rigidity of SMA/epoxy composites increases. Especially, the storage modulus increases remarkably with increasing filler content in the high temperature region. The experimental results show that the addition of just 3.5% of SMA fillers to epoxy resin resulted in a remarkable increment of storage modulus, which is six times as large as that of epoxy bulk (ER3). The storage modulus reaches the maximum at the SMA phase transformation temperature of approximate 120 °C. The loss factor of SMA/ER3 composites increases with the increment of SMA filler contents. Based on the Halpin–Tsai theory, moreover, a model for the laminated plates with SMA fillers is presented to predict the dynamic mechanical properties. Compared to the experimental results, reasonable prediction of the dynamic behavior is obtained based on the present models.

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