Open Access

ARTICLE

Modeling of Moisture Diffusion in Heterogeneous Epoxy Resin Containing Multiple Randomly Distributed Particles Using Hybrid Moisture Element Method

De-Shin Liu¹, Zhen-Wei Zhuang^1,2, Cho-LiangChung³, Ching-Yang Chen⁴

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, 168, University Rd., Min-Hsiung, Chia-Yi, 621, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2 Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-5-2720411 (Ext: 23347); fax: +886-5-2720589 E-mail address: zhenwei@alumni.ccu.edu.tw
3 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, I-Shou University, No. 1, section 1, ShiuechengRoad, Dashu Shiang, Kaohsiung Country, Taiwan, 840, R.O.C.
4 RiTdisplay Corporation, No. 12, Kuanfu N. Road, Hsin Chu Industrial Park, 303, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Computers, Materials & Continua 2009, 13(2), 89-114. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2009.013.089

Abstract

This paper employs a novel numerical technique, designated as the hybrid moisture element method (HMEM), to model and analyze moisture diffusion in a heterogeneous epoxy resin containing multiple randomly distributed particles. The HMEM scheme is based on a hybrid moisture element (HME), whose properties are determined by equivalent moisture capacitance and conductance matrixes calculated using the conventional finite element formulation. A coupled HME-FE scheme is developed and implemented using the commercial FEM software ABAQUS. The HME-FE scheme is then employed to analyze the moisture diffusion characteristics of a heterogeneous epoxy resin layer containing particle inclusions. The analysis commences by comparing the performance of the proposed scheme with that of the conventional FEM in modeling the moisture diffusion process. Having validated its performance, the scheme is then employed to investigate the relationship between the volume fraction of the particles in the resin composite and the rate of moisture diffusion. It is found that moisture diffusion is retarded significantly as the volume fraction of particles increases.
The HMEM approach proposed in this study provides a straightforward and efficient means of modeling moisture diffusion in a heterogeneous epoxy resin containing multiple randomly distributed particles since only one HME moisture characteristic matrixes needs to be calculated for all HMEs sharing the same characteristics. Furthermore, different volume fractions can be modeled without modifying the original model simply by controlling the size of the inter-phase region within the HME domain.

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Keywords

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