DESIGN OF STIFFNESS BY CONTROLLED ORGANIZATION OF MICROSTRUCTURE IN AN ELASTOMERIC NANOCOMPOSITE

摘要

Recent developments enable in situ fabrication of microstructure in a liquid prepolymer by field-directed assembly of dispersed magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). This allows enforcing a desired pattern in the microstructure of an elastomer-MNP nanocomposite. The geometry of the microstructure dictates the bulk properties of such composites. This presents an opportunity for on-demand control of material properties. Herein, we probe the use of such capabilities to control mechanical stiffness. Specifically, we examine the influence of organizing the dispersed particles into linear chains by simulating tensile tests using finite element methods. We find that such organization can lead to ～100 times enhancement in stiffness compared to a comparable material with randomly distributed particles. The result shows promising prospects for the next generation of additive manufacturing systems.