Abstract
The effect of using different carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the production of nanocomposites was evaluated in this work. The investigated CNTs were multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with different morphologies and structures. The main objective was to relate the results reported by numerical simulation with the results obtained experimentally in order to validate these methodologies. A detailed characterization of CNTs was carried out to establish the different main characteristics, such as inner and outer diameters, defects, structure and the number of walls. Metal matrix nanocomposites were produced using the powder metallurgy route. The experimental results show that the morphology and structure of MWCNTs have a significant effect on the dispersion process for nanocomposite production. Straight CNTs with a larger diameter and with few defects allow for the production of nanocomposites with uniform dispersion and strong interface bonding, leading to a higher hardness value. In addition, the CNT introduction into a metal matrix induces a change in the deformation behavior that plays an important role in the strengthening mechanisms. Although some aspects are not considered in the molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, such as the CNT random orientation and CNT agglomeration, some comparative relationships can be performed in order to validate some methodologies. While the structure and morphology of the CNTs have a significant influence on the dispersion process, the influence of the diameter and the functionalization treatment on the properties of the nanocomposites is also identified. The experimental results show that the decrease in the diameter of the CNTs and the use of functionalized CNTs also contribute to the obtention of lower mechanical properties of the nanocomposites, as is pointed out in the results of MD carried out in nanocomposites.
Highlights
The results indicate that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) functionalized exhibit lower mechanical properties
The results showed that the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could be an effective reinforcement of aluminum, providing a potential Young’s modulus increase between 50–100% compared to the pure metal depending on the interface bonding
The results showed that the CNTs play a critical role in the composites’ deformation behavior since they act as obstacles for the dislocation movement
Summary
Numerical simulation studies of the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11] and nanocomposites reinforced with CNTs [12,13,14,15,16,17,18] have attracted significant attention from the research community. There is still difficulty in understanding and determining their properties, which implies a challenge in their application, since conventional characterization techniques cannot be used. In this sense, and to improve the development of components with CNTs, numerical modulation studies help in understanding CNT properties to overcome some challenges observed in experimental work. Materials 2020, 13, 5557 not as high as expected [27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34] This can be explained by a lack of knowledge of the real properties of CNTs and even their behavior with the metallic matrix during the processing of nanocomposites
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