STRUCTURAL EFFECTS ON DYNAMIC FEATURES OF SANDWICH METAL POLYMER/METAL/

A theoretical approach to the mechanical coupling between phases in me tal/polymer/metal sandwich composites is developed assuming perfect in terfaces. Comparisons between experimental dynamic mechanical spectros copy and theoretical results are made with special attention to the ge ometrical characteristics. Unexpected results concerning the dependenc e on the width of the specimen are explained using the strain energy m ethod. The polymer thickness influence is explained only by structural effects instead of the interface effects often found in the literatur e. The temperature of the sandwich loss factor peak is revealed to gre atly depend on the specimen dimensions. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, In c.