Microstructure Properties and Strengthening Mechanisms of the AS4-3501-6 Polymeric Resin With Embedded Terfenol-D Particles

Polymeric composite laminates play a vital role in the fabrication of strong, lightweight materials. Composites also play a critical role in the aerospace and automotive industries. They are the very things that protect us from harsh environments. Due to widespread usage, it is important to understand how these materials age and perform over time. The advantages of polymeric composites are high rigidity, high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, high fatigue strength, low thermal expansion, and manufacturability. The advantages of polymeric composite parts in machines and vehicles are low mass, high speed of operation, excellent fatigue resistance, quiet running due to shock absorption, easy installment and demounting, low maintenance cost, low energy costs during production and life cycle. Despite the advantages, there are concerns regarding the long-term durability of these composites especially when it comes to performances under critical and varying conditions. Since Terfenol-D, a magnetostrictive material will be placed in these polymeric composites for structural health monitoring, it is imperative to understand the microstructure of the particles and their net effect on the resin, e.g. distortions, volume fraction, and induced strain. Terfenol-D (Tb_1−xDy_xFe₂) is of the cubic laves phase structure in which there is less plastic deformation which in turn makes the particles hard and brittle.