Syntactic cellular plastics

Also called RP syntactic foam or syntactic foam. An RP compound made by mixing hollow microspheres of glass, epoxy, phenolic, etc. into a fluid TS plastic with its additives and curing agents. It forms a moldable, curable, lightweight mass, as opposed to foamed plastics in which its cells are formed by gas bubbles, etc. Use includes water floatation apparatus. 

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Wouterson, E. M. et al.. Fracture and impact toughness of syntactic foam. Journal of Cellular Plastics, 2004. 40(2) 145-154. 

Syntactic foamed materials are classified as foamed plastics because they are formally similar in structure to cellular gas-expanded plastics in that they are heterophase, gas-solid systems. In general, however, they differ from ordinary foamed plastics in that they are not binary but tertiary systems because the filler and binder are made usually from different materials 3 5). 

The glass transition temperature lies considerably above the temperature of use with rigid foams and considerably below the temperature of use with flexible foams. The cellular structure may be open, closed, or mixed. All cells are open to each other with open cellular structures. In contrast, each cell is sealed off or encapsulated from the other cells by a plastic wall in closed-cell structures. Structural foams are foams with a dense outer skin and an interior of lower density they are also called integral foams or self-skinning foams. In contrast to normal foams syntactic foams do not directly enclose the gas but contain small hollow bodies of glass, ceramics, or plastics which are under vacuum or are filled with a gas. 

There are several types of foamed plastics including syntactic foam, closed-cell foam, and open-cell foam. Syntactic foam is a special type of plastic foam in which the cellular structure is formed by the use of smaU, hollow spheres made of resin, glass, or other hollow particles. The spheres are dispersed throughout a matrix of resin, usually thermosetting, which when cured resanbles a conventional foam plastic. Once mixed, syntactic foam may be cast or formed in place by a pouring or trowling action. 

Syntactic Foam sin- ltak-tik n (cellular mortar) A term applied to composites of tiny, hollow spheres in a resin or plastic matrix. The spheres are usually of glass, although phenolic microspheres were used in the early... 

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