Change in the structure of polymer matrix of particulate-filled composites: The fractal treatment

An obligatory change (disturbance) in the structure of a polymer matrix is shown to arise upon injecting a disperse filler in it, which is determined by the fractal structure of the skeleton formed by filler particles. The characteristic of this disturbance is obtained in terms of change in the fractal dimension d _f of polymer matrix structure. Tentative estimates show a good correspondence between the values of d _f obtained and experimental data.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 827–834, November–December, 2004.