Analytical modeling and numerical study using Finite Element Homogenization of thermomechanical properties of Epoxy (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A)-Yttrium aluminosilicate glass composites for potential applications purposes

Abstract

This paper presents a general analytical and numerical study of the thermomechanical behavior of epoxy (diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A)-based syntactic foams reinforced with hollow yttrium aluminosilicate glass (Yas Glass) microspheres (termed particles ). Using ANSYS Material Designer, the effects of the microsphere diameter , the particle wall-thickness and the volume fraction were evaluated across a range of configurations. The analysis included the computation using Finite Element Method (FEM) of linear elastic properties of the material composite, through Young’s modulus , shear modulus and composite-density , and its thermal properties, through the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) under orthotropic and periodic symmetry conditions. A careful analysis revealed that increasing microsphere-diameter and their volume fraction leads to drastic reductions of Young’s modulus, shear modulus and composite-density, but increases CTE. Conversely, increasing the microsphere wall-thickness ( ) results in higher stiffness, while reducing CTE and composite-density. Effects of Yas Glass microsphere volume fraction ( ) on the thermomechanical properties of composite were also studied using the same simulation techniques. Our numerical results are satisfactory confronted to those obtained from an analytical modeling we elaborated. Finally, it is noted that these trends provide a computational framework for tailoring material performance in critical applications, such as lightweight structural panels, thermal shielding systems, and biomedical components where controlled mechanical and thermal behavior are essential.