Analysis of the Thermal Expansion Coefficients of Particle-Filled Polymers

Abstract

An attempt has been made to predict the thermal expansion coefficients of particle-filled polymers in which particles have various types of orienta tion distributions. The calculation is based on Eshelby's theory and a kind of self-consistent method is introduced to estimate the effect of the orien tation distribution together with the interaction among particles. The ex pression for the space random orientation of disk-shaped particles with infinitesimal aspect ratio, which is derived here, agrees with lower bound of isotropic composites predicted by Schapery. The calculated results are also compared with existing experimental data for glass particle-epoxy resin composites, and these are almost in good agreement.