Evaluation of the morphology and mechanical properties of laminated composites based on epoxy, cork and glass microspheres

ABSTRACT In this work, epoxy polymer composites laminated with cork and hollow glass microspheres were developed. The laminated composites were manually made and evaluated for the morphological characteristics of the scanning electron microscope and the influence of the incorporation of the fillers was evaluated by means of density and flexural strength. In general, good dispersion of both the cork powder and the hollow glass microspheres was observed in the central layers of the sheet, but the cork-based cores presented better adhesion to the matrix. It was also observed the reduction in the density of all the composites with respect to the pure matrix and that the flexural modulus of cork-based composites and those with hollow microspheres of glass, even with close values, were superior to modulus of bending of the pure epoxy system. Core laminates with cork incorporation may be applied as an alternative where weight reduction is required and also where there is the expectation of bending stresses higher than those supported by the pure resin.