Modelling of stress transfer in double-walled carbon nanotube-reinforced composites

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes with excellent mechanical properties can be utilised as nanoscale reinforcement to carry loads in composite structures. External loads are transferred to carbon nanotubes via the surrounding matrix, through the interfacial shear stress. In this work, the interaction and stress transfer in double-walled carbon nanotube- reinforced composites are investigated. A cylindrical representative element volume containing the double-walled carbon nanotubes and matrix is employed to determine the interfacial shear stress and longitudinal axial stress in the double-walled carbon nanotube. The theoretical predictions of the interfacial shear stress and longitudinal axial stress are verified with the finite element results. The effects of the aspect ratio and volume fraction on the stress transfer are investigated through a parametric study. Numerical results show that stresses transferred to double-walled carbon nanotubes are increasing with the increases of the volume fraction and aspect ratio. It demonstrates that a better load transfer efficiency can be achieved with larger volume fraction and aspect ratio.