Prediction of the Young s modulus of SWCNTs/epoxy nanocomposites by considering SWCNTs curvature and local agglomeration

In this study, the influence of SWCNTs agglomeration, curvature on prediction of Young’s modulus of SWCNTs/epoxy nanocomposites was investigated and compared with experimental results. SWCNTs/epoxy specimens containing 0.3, 0.5 wt.% SWCNTs and neat epoxy fabricated using high power dispersion sonicating and high-speed shearing method. Three different 3-D representative volume element (RVE) of SWCNTs/epoxy including incorporated cylindrical, curved-cylindrical and curved- cylindrical with agglomeration SWCNTs in epoxy matrix have been generated using Digimat-FE and their Young’s modulus obtained from Digimat-FE solver. Numerical results show that, the simplest RVE with considering cylindrical SWCNTs has the greatest error while the RVE with considering curved- cylindrical with agglomeration SWCNTs in epoxy has a good agreement with the experimental results. TEM images showed that, it is important to consider the SWCNTs agglomeration and curvature to predict Young’s modulus of nanocomposites accurately.

Prediction of the Young s modulus of SWCNTs/epoxy nanocomposites by considering SWCNTs curvature and local agglomeration Keywords:

Young’s Modulus prediction , Single walled carbon nanotubes , Digimat-FE , SWCNTs agglomeration and curvature