ABSTRACT
The addition of nanoreinforcements, to polymer matrix materials has been shown to significantly enhance the overall elastic properties of the resulting material. Numerical modeling methods are used to determine the influence of carbon nanofibers (CNF) reinforcement on elastic properties of a thermoset polymer matrix material. CNFs tend to agglomerate in thermoset polymers resulting in the formation of stress concentrations in the composite material and consequently reducing strength properties, especially in tension. For inhomogeneities embedded in a matrix, the concept of equivalent homogeneous inclusions is introduced to handle the mean field description of matrix–inhomogeneity composites. In order to obtain accurate predictions of mechanical responses of nano-enhanced matrix (NEM) and hybrid multiscale composite materials (HMC), it is important to model the effect of CNF waviness as well as the interphase region between CNF and the matrix. One of the challenging issues in using NEM and HMC materials in industrial design applications is the accurate modeling of their mechanical responses.
