Effective mechanical properties of nanocomposites reinforced with wavy carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess exceptional mechanical properties and are therefore suitable reinforcements for composite materials. Nanotube efficiency in reinforcing the matrix depends on the CNT alignment, volume fraction and configuration, as well as matrix properties. In this investigation, finite element method (FEM) is used to investigate the effects of nanotube waviness ratio, volume fraction, and matrix modulus on properties of CNT based polymer nanocomposites. Nanocomposite mechanical properties are evaluated using a 3D nanoscale representative volume element. Models consisting of CNTs with different waviness ratios are created to investigate the effects of nanotube configuration on nanocomposite mechanical properties. Next, the effect of nanotube volume fraction on nanocomposite moduli of elasticity is investigated. Finally, the effects of matrix modulus are investigated by analysing models consisting of matrices with different moduli. The results of this investigation are compared with those found in the literature and good agreement is observed.