Evaluation of the mechanical properties of graphene-based nanocomposites incorporating a graded interphase based on isoparametric graded finite element model

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effective mechanical properties of graphene-based nanocomposites considering a graded interphase are evaluated by using nanoscale sandwich representative volume element (RVE) and embedded RVE based on finite element method (FEM). Both sandwich RVE and embedded RVE are considered as a three-phase composite structure, in which the material properties of interphase are represented as a linear or an exponential function of the thickness direction coordinate z. The FEM is used to model the RVEs in order to evaluate the mechanical properties of graphene-based composites. The graphene and the matrix are discreted by shell elements and solid elements respectively and the interphase is discreted by isoparmetric graded elements. The RVEs analyzed by isoparmetric graded finite element model (IGFEM) are used to evaluate the mechanical properties. The performance of the proposed model is assessed with some examples available in published literature. The numerical results show that the proposed model has a high accuracy and computational efficiency. It is also demonstrated that the factors, such as interphase material properties and thickness, bonding interface and matrix material properties, can affect the mechanical properties.