ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITES REINFORCED BY WAVY CARBON NANOTUBES

In the paper the prediction of the elastic Young modulus of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the elastic properties of composites reinforced by straight or wavy CNTs is presented. The properties are evaluated by numerical methods. Nanotubes are modeled and analyzed by the finite element method (FEM). The specific atomistic nature of CNTs is taken into account by using a linkage between molecular and continuum mechanics. The methodology consists in replacing the discrete molecular structure of a CNT with a space-frame FE model by equating the molecular potential energy and the elastic strain energy of both models subjected to small elastic deformations. A three-dimensional frame is further substituted with a one-dimensional beam which represents the reinforcement in a representative volume element (RVE) of the considered composite. The properties of the nano-composite are determined by modeling and analyzing RVEs using the coupled boundary and finite element method (BEM/FEM). A two-dimensional matrix is modeled by the BEM and CNTs by the FEM using beam elements. The waviness and shape of a single fiber or multiple aligned nanotubes on the properties of the nanocomposite are investigated. Sinusoidal or arbitrary shapes of the reinforcement are considered. The influence of volume fraction of the reinforcement and the fiber/matrix Young's modulus ratio on the elastic properties of the composite is also studied.