An investigation of the assembly conditions of dielectric particles in uncured thermoset polymers

It has been found that electric field induced fibrolysis of suspended dielectric powder in a variety of uncured thermoset polymeric materials is a potential fabrication means to assemble ceramic-polymer composites. The resulting composite material consists of a quasi 1–3 connectivity pattern due to the formation of fibrils by the ceramic powder. For a given thermoset polymer, the degree to which these fibrils form is strongly dependent on both the magnitude and frequency of the applied field. Fibril formation is maximized at certain ac frequencies independent of the volume fraction of filler utilized. Outside these frequency ranges, electroviscous behavior and the associated fibrolysis are drastically diminished or even nonexistent. The critical frequency values and their relation to the ideal assembly conditions for this class of composite materials are the focus of this paper.