INVESTIGATION OF NANOSTRUCTURE EFFECTS ANDINTERACTIONS ON THE ELASTIC PROPERTIES OFBUCKYPAPER-POLYMER NANOCOMPOSITES

摘要

The elastic property of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) buckypaper-polymer (BPP)composites depends highly on the constituent materials and their corresponding nanostructures.Although the relationships between composite nanostructure and elastic properties can be studiedby traditional micromechanics models, the degree of nanostructure effect and interactionsbetween different nanostructures are difficult to analyze because of the lack of analyticalequations. In this study, a statistical design of experiment (DOE) method, the factorial designand Central Composite Design (CCD), was applied to solve this problem. Nanotube bundlelength, diameter, orientation, waviness, and composite volume fraction, were considered ascritical nanostructure parameters. The Mori-Tanaka method was utilized to predict the elasticproperties of BPP composites. The composite axial modulus, transverse modulus, shear modulus,and Poisson ratio, were chosen as response composite properties. As a result of the CCDanalysis, the bundle diameter, volume fraction and waviness were determined to be influencingparameters on the BPP composite axial tensile modulus and shear modulus. The bundleorientation is the most influencing parameter on BPP composite transverse tensile modulus. Thevolume fraction of the nanotube bundle was found to have a principal effect on the Poisson ratio.The optimal conditions can also be determined by using CCD analysis. Consequently, desiredBPP composites can be manufactured by controlling the significant nanostructure parameters.