Loading Effect of Hollow Glass Microsphere (HGM) and Foam Microstructure on the Specific Mechanical Properties and Water Absorption of Syntactic Foam Composite

Epoxy syntactic foams (SF) filled with hollow glass microspheres (HGM) were prepared by simple resin casting method and characterization in this study. The effect of varying the amount of HGM on the specific mechanical and water absorption properties of SF composites were investigated. Five different composition of SF (SFT60-0.5 to SFT60-2.5) were compared with the neat epoxy matrix. The wall thickness of the microballoons differ because of its different percentile size distribution (10th, 50th and 90th), which reflects in its density variation. The results show that the specific tensile and flexural strength increases with an increasing filler (HGM) content. The density of SF filled with HGM reduces with increasing volume fraction of filler content. Scanning electron microscopy was done on the failed samples to examine the fractured surfaces. The water absorption capacity of the SF was also investigated as it relates to the HGM volume fraction variation. All the syntactic foam composition shows a better diffusion coefficient capacity than the neat epoxy resin. This makes it applicable in structural purposes and several marine application products such as Autonomous Ultimately Vehicle (AUV).