A new form of a Halpin–Tsai micromechanical model for characterizing the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

In the present work, a new form of a Halpin-Tsai (H-T) micromechanical model is proposed to characterize the elastic modulus and tensile strength of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced polymer nanocomposites. To this end, three critical factors, including random dispersion, non-straight shape and agglomerated state of the CNTs are appropriately incorporated into the H-T model. A comparison of the model predictions with some experiments on the CNT/polymer nanocomposites serves to verify the applicability of the proposed approach. It is found that the present predictions are in good agreement with the available experimental data. The results clearly reveal that for a more accurate prediction of the mechanical properties of the CNT/polymer nanocomposites, considering the random orientation, waviness and agglomeration of CNTs into the polymer matrix is critically essential. Also, some parametric studies are carried out to show the effects of volume fraction, non-straight shape, aspect ratio, mechanical characteristics and non-uniform dispersion of CNTs as well as matrix properties on the elastic modulus and tensile strength of CNT/polymer nanocomposites. The results reveal that it is necessary to eliminate the agglomeration and use the straight CNTs if the full potential of CNT reinforcement is to be realized.

Wave Dispersion Analysis of Fluid Conveying Nanocomposite Shell Reinforced by MWCNTs Considering the Effect of Waviness and Agglomeration Efficiency

“…In the current section, a new form of Halpin-Tsai homogenization model and rule of the mixture was applied to determine the material properties of the nanocomposite shell. The effective mechanical properties of nanocomposite shell will be calculated as [48]:…”

“…Waviness, random orientation, and agglomeration factors can significantly influence the value of elastic modulus. The mentioned factors can be considered through the following equation [48]:…”

“…If MWCNTs are considered to be randomly oriented in two dimensions, f R =1/3. f W is waviness factor which can be defined as [48]:…”

“…in which A stands for amplitude a wavy MWCNT and W stands for the amplitude and half-wavelength of a wavy MWCNT, as indicated in Figure 2. In the present investigation, the waviness factor was assumed to be 0.6. f A is agglomeration factor which has the following definition [48]:…”

Prediction of tensile strength of polymer carbon nanotube composites using practical machine learning method

“…In terms of predicting the overall mechanical properties of CNT nanocomposites, multiple strategies have been proposed involving both analytical calculation and numerical simulations such as continuum mechanics, 40–44 molecular dynamics, 45–48 and multiscale approaches. 32 , 49–53 The Halpin-Tsai equation has also been employed by Kanagaraj et al.…”