Characterization of epoxy-based encapsulents

A range of experiments have been performed in order to investigate the effects of strain-rate on the compressive response of both an epoxy resin and an epoxy-based syntactic foam. Strain-rates ranging from the quasi-static (10$^{-4}$ s$^{-1})$ to dynamic (10$^{3}$ s$^{-1})$ regime have been investigated using an Instron 5584 Universal Testing Machine and Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) apparatus. The effects of temperature (-20 to 80$^{\circ}$C) on the compressive response of the materials have also been investigated. Finally, the experimental results are discussed with reference to the wider challenge of numerical simulation.