Techno Press
You logged in as. Techno Press

Steel and Composite Structures
  Volume 21, Number 5, August10 2016 , pages 1085-1103
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2016.21.5.1085
 


Elastic properties of CNT- and graphene-reinforced nanocomposites using RVE
Dinesh Kumar and Ashish Srivastava

 
Abstract
    The present paper is aimed to evaluate and compare the effective elastic properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites using 3-D nanoscale representative volume element (RVE) based on continuum mechanics using finite element method (FEM). Different periodic displacement boundary conditions are applied to the FEM model of the RVE to evaluate various elastic constants. The effects of the matrix material, the volume fraction and the length of reinforcements on the elastic properties are also studied. Results predicted are validated with the analytical and/or semiempirical results and the available results in the literature. Although all elastic stiffness properties of CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites are found to be improved compared to the matrix material, but out-of-plane and in-plane stiffness properties are better improved in CNT- and graphene-based nanocomposites, respectively. It is also concluded that long nanofillers (graphene as well as CNT) are more effective in increasing the normal elastic moduli of the resulting nanocomposites as compared to the short length, but the values of shear moduli, except G23 of CNT nanocomposite, of nanocomposites are slightly improved in the case of short length nanofillers (i.e., CNT and graphene).
 
Key Words
    carbon nanotubes (CNT); graphene; representative volume element (RVE), nanocomposites; homogenization; elastic properties
 
Address
Mechanical Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India.
 

Techno-Press: Publishers of international journals and conference proceedings.       Copyright © 2025 Techno Press
P.O. Box 33, Yuseong, Daejeon 305-600 Korea, Tel: +82-42-828-7996, Fax : +82-42-828-7997, Email: admin@techno-press.com