Summary and Future Challenges

In the previous chapters, the existing literature on the mechanical properties of reinforced syntactic foams has been reviewed. This chapter summarizes the effects of the reinforcements on the mechanical properties of syntactic foams and identifies the critical areas where a lack of literature is observed relating to reinforced syntactic foams. The data for various mechanical properties such as compressive, tensile, and the flexural strength and modulus have been plotted as a function of the composites density. This helps in identifying the composite compositions that can be helpful in weight saving applications. The nanoscale reinforcements help in obtaining the highest mechanical properties without increasing the density of syntactic foams. These results show that the nanoscale reinforcements can push the boundaries of mechanical properties of syntactic foams. It is identified that understanding the effect of moisture, weathering, and ultraviolet light radiation on the composite is not well developed. The lack of theoretical models for reinforced syntactic foams, considering the interaction between the nanoscale reinforcement and the hollow particles, is also noted in the literature and should be the focus of future research efforts.