Open Access

ARTICLE

Three Phase Composite Cylinder Assemblage Model for Analyzing the Elastic Behavior of MWCNT-Reinforced Polymers

Puneet Kumar^1,*, J. Srinivas²

1 Research Scholar, Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha -769008, India.
2 Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha-769008, India.

*Corresponding Author: Puneet Kumar. Email:

Computers, Materials & Continua 2018, 54(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2018.054.001

Abstract

Evolution of computational modeling and simulation has given more emphasis on the research activities related to carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composites recently. This paper presents the composite cylinder assemblage (CCA) approach based on continuum mechanics for investigating the elastic properties of a polymer resin reinforced by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). A three-phase cylindrical representative volume element (RVE) model is employed based on CCA technique to elucidate the effects of inter layers, chirality, interspacing, volume fraction of MWCNT, interphase properties and temperature conditions on the elastic modulus of the composite. The interface region between CNT and polymer matrix is modeled as the third phase with varying material properties. The constitutive relations for each material system have been derived based on solid mechanics and proper interfacial traction continuity conditions are imposed. The predicted results from the CCA approach are in well agreement with RVE-based finite element model. The outcomes reveal that temperature softening effect becomes more pronounced at higher volume fractions of CNTs.

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