Preparation and Properties of Hollow Glass Microsphere/Silicone Rubber Based Flexible Buoyancy Material

Flexible buoyancy materials were prepared with hollow glass microspheres (HGM) as filler and liquid silicone rubber (SR) as matrix. The influences of volume fraction of HGM on the density, tensile strength, water absorption and hardness of flexible buoyancy material were investigated.Results showed that the density of the flexible buoyancy material was 0.6~0.8 g/cm³, and the maximum water absorption was no more than 0.25% under the hydrostatic pressure of 40 MPa for 2 hrs; with the increase of addition of the hollow glass microsphere, the density of the flexible buoyancy material decreased, the water absorption increased, the elasticity decreased and the hardness improved.