Modeling the Damping Behavior of Composites Using FEM.

The damping behavior of Aluminum-Epoxy composites has been successfully predicted by using the finite element method. It was shown that the loss factor of a given composite depends on morphology and volume percent of component phases. For a given volume percent of Aluminum or Epoxy, the loss factor is found to increase with an increase in relative particle size. This was attributed to the ability of the high damping epoxy phase to dampdeform relatively freely when the particle size was increased. A 3-D plot with loss factor, relative particle size, and volume percent of Aluminum as the parameters was constructed which clearly demonstrates the effect of particle size and volume percent of phases on the damping behavior of epoxyaluminum composites.