Geometry Effect of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube on Elastic Modulus of Polymer Composites

The high Young's modulus and tensile strength of carbon nanotubes has attracted great attention from the research community given the potential for developing super-strong, super-stiff composites with carbon nanotube reinforcements. Over the decades, the strength and stiffness of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposites have been researched extensively. However, unfortunately, such strong composite materials have not been developed yet. It has been reported that the efficiency of load transfer in such systems is critically dependent on the quality of adhesion between the nanotubes and the polymer chains. In addition, the waviness and orientation of the nanotubes embedded in a matrix reduce the reinforcement effectiveness. In this study, we carried out performed micromechanics-based numerical modeling and analysis by varying the geometry of carbon nanotubes including their aspect ratio, orientation, and waviness. The results of this analysis allow for a better understanding of the load transfer capabilities of carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer composites