Understanding Enhancement of Strength in CNT/GNP-based Structural Composites
Abstract
The objective of this research is to understand how nano-sized particles, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplatelets (among some of the strongest reinforcing particles available), are able to increase the strength of materials in which they are embedded. Specifically, the effort is focused on how these nanoscale reinforcements not only interact with the local chemistry of the material they are reinforcing, in this case epoxies commonly used in carbon fiber structural composites, but also on how they form complex architectures built up over much larger scales which have significant influence on where damage, such as cracks, form in the material, and how those cracks propagate before leading to complete failure of the reinforced component. As experiments cannot provide sufficient control and characterization of damage propagationfor such complex architectures across so many scales, the approach here is to develop computational models at each scale which are linked to one another through multiscale information passing techniques. These multiscale models are capable of resolving the key features at each scale and of allowing damage to initiate at the smallest scale, and subsequently interact and coalesce across larger scales, without having to model an entire component (say a an aircraft skin panel) at the full resolution of the smallest scale. The multiscale approach here starts at the atomistic scale with atomistic modeling techniques (molecular dynamics) and transitions through 4 separate length scales to model a full scale laboratory sample used to measure materialstrength. A key to spanning so many scales is the transition from atomistic modeling to continuum(engineering) modeling, which is accomplished using what can be viewed as a large scale particle technique (peridynamics). Understanding how damage propagates and can be controlled across the length scales will allow for the design of advanced high-strength, light-weight structural composites.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 11, 2018
- Source ID
- FA95501810433
Entities
People
- Gary Seidel
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- Virginia Tech