Modeling of Carbon Nanotube Composites Based on Nonlocal Elasticity Approach

Abstract

Nonlocal continuum theory is studied for modeling stress distributions in nanocomposites. The second-order approximation in nonlocal theory is considered since the first-order approximation leads to an unacceptable solution. A representative volume element (RVE) of CNT composite is utilized to derive unknown constants in the nonlocal theory model. Stress distributions in RVE using nonlocal theory, classical elasticity, and finite element method are obtained. All three approaches yield the same force, but classical elasticity gives an incorrect value of first moment. Wave propagation studies show that the dispersion curve obtained by nonlocal theory is quite close to the atomic Born-von Karman model.