Original Paper(Vol.57 No.12 pp.1253-1260)

Relationship of Mechanical Properties between Neat PP/SEBS Blends and Syntactic PP/SEBS Foams with Polymer Microballoons

Hiroyuki MAE

Abstract:The tensile mechanical properties of PP/SEBS blend syntactic foams with the relative densities from 0.5 to 1.0 are characterized at the nominal strain rates of 1, 10 and 100 s-1. Moreover, the effects of the mechanical properties of the matrix materials on the macroscopic mechanical properties are investigated by comparing the experimental results of two types of the PP/SEBS syntactic foams. The apparent elastic moduli of the syntactic foams are similar without depending on the matrix's elastic moduli once the small content of the microballoons is blended. Their material ductility decreases drastically once the microballoons are blended in the matrix materials regardless of the type of the matrix. The strain rate dependency of the elastic modulus in the syntactic foams is dependent on that of the matrix material. In addition, the drastic increase of the elastic moduli in the syntactic foams is delayed by adding the polymer microballoons.

Key Words:Polymer, Tensile mechanical properties, Strain rate, Elastic modulus, Yield stress, Closed cell, Syntactic foams, Microballoon, Polypropylene, Styrene ethylene butadiene styrene