Finite element based homogenization of polypropylene/silica micro-composites: experimental work and numerical modeling

Polypropylene (PP) is one of the leading polymers in the polymer industry finding applications from automotive industry to medical equipment and adding silica can make it more desirable. A lot of experimental analysis has been done to study the effect of particle size among other parameters on PP/silica composites. However, very few literatures numerically analyze PP/silica composites. This study focuses on developing a 3D Finite Element based homogenization model that can accurately predict the elastic mechanical properties of PP/micro-silica composites. A Repeating Unit Cell is deployed during this study and periodic boundary conditions are imposed. The contribution of the model was demonstrated by comparing experimental results to the numerical analysis. The maximum error between the two for the Young’s modulus was less than 4% for 3% micro-silica composite. Similarly, to predict the compressive modulus, the maximum error was less than 7%. Parametric study was conducted to demonstrate how the proposed model behaves better than the analytical micro-mechanic models for soft materials like polymer composites and where contact failure occurs between the matrix and particle.