Prediction of the thermomechanical behavior of particle reinforced shape memory polymers

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have drawn wide attention because they can recover from a deformed shape to their original shape by a certain external stimulus. However, Low modulus and recovery stress limit the application and development of SMPs. It is imperative to find an approach to improve or reinforce these mechanical properties of SMPs. In the present study, the mechanical properties and shape memory effect of spherical particle reinforced shape memory polymer composite (SMPC) are studied numerically through a representative volume element created by using the random sequential adsorption algorithm. The linear viscoelastic model is used to describe the thermomechanical behavior of the SMP matrix while the fillers are regarded as linear elastic glass beads. From our study, we find the elastic modulus and recovery stress are increased considerably by adding 15% volume fraction glass beads into the SMP. Furthermore, it is observed that filling particles slightly deteriorates the shape fixity ratio, however, hardly changes the effective shape recovery ratio for dilute inclusion cases. Our research demonstrates the feasibility of using glass beads to adjust the modulus and recovery stress of SMPs without dramatically affect the shape memory effects. We hope our findings would provide researchers with guides in designing and optimizing SMPC applications. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:353–363, 2019.