GLASS FLAKE REINFORCED COMPOSITES AS OPTICAL-MATERIALS

The optical properties of glass flake composites are investigated by measuring the transmission of collections of flakes in index matched oils over a wide temperature range. For large refractive index differences between glass and matrix, the transmission is periodic with temperature and is interpreted as Fresnel diffraction from a transparent edge. For small refractive index differences, the Rayleigh-Gans (RG) light scattering theory for thin circular disks is used to correlate the data. A model is developed for predicting the flake size and concentration necessary in a particular polymer matrix for the resulting composite to meet given temperature dependent haze requirements.