A molecular dynamics investigation for predicting the effect of various parameters on the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminum nanocomposites.

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced aluminum (Al) composites are being developed to replace the conventional materials due to the enhanced stiffness for more cost-effective engineering applications. In the present study, a qualitative analysis has been conducted on carbon nanotube aluminum (CNT-Al) composites to predict the effect of CNT volume fraction, diameter, and structure (zigzag, armchair) on elastic modulus, shear modulus, bulk modulus, and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) through molecular dynamics simulation. This study shows that the elastic modulus was improved by 105% compared with pure Al, for the CNT-Al composite reinforced with the (4, 4) armchair SWCNT at a volume fraction of 8.79%. The highest value of Young's modulus of 130.37GPa occurred at the volume fraction of 11.75% for zigzag SWCNT. The CNT-Al composites showed better UTS for the Al matrix reinforced with larger diameter CNT. An enhancement of 31.65% was observed in the UTS of CNT-Al composite from 4.74 to 6.24GPa with (6, 6) CNT at 0.51% volume fraction. Elastic and bulk moduli were found to improve with a higher volume fraction of CNTs. The CNT-Al composite reinforced with smaller diameter CNT's have better elastic modulus than those reinforced with larger diameter CNT for the same volume fraction. Graphical abstract Variation of Young's modulus with SWCNT volume fraction for a constant cell size of CNT-Al composite.