Elastic Properties of a Polymer/Silicate Composite with Platelike Multilayer Filler Particles

A variant of stepwise calculations of the elastic constants of a composite containing platelike multilayer filler particles is presented. First, the effective characteristics of unexfoliated particles in the form of multilayer stacks with interlaminar galleries enlarged as a result of intercalation of polymer are determined. Then, the independent elastic constants of the transversely isotropic representative structural elements of a composite in which multilayer particles are located strictly coplanarly, i.e., parallel to each other, are calculated. Finally, the elastic constants of a composite with randomly oriented particles are obtained by using the method of orientational averaging. Data on the influence of the number of monolayers in the unexfoliated silicate filler particles on their reinforcing efficiency are reported and discussed.