In this paper, a new cohesive interface model is applied to characterize carbon nanotube (CNT) composites using the boundary element method (BEM). In the previous BEM models of CNT composites, a rigid-inclusion model was employed to represent the CNTs in a polymer matrix due to their extremely high stiffness as compared with the polymer. Perfect bonding interface conditions between the CNT fibe...

Graphene/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composites were prepared using in-situ solvothermal reduction of graphene oxide in the PVDF solution. The electrical conductivity of the composites was greatly improved by doping with graphene sheets. The percolation threshold of such composite was determined to be 0.31 vol.%, being much smaller than that of the composites prepared via blending reduced gr...

Natural fibers have been used to reinforce materials for many years. More currently they have been employed in combination with plastics. Many types of natural fibers have been investigated for use in plastics including flax, hemp, jute, cotton and banana. Natural fibers have the advantage that they are renewable resources and have marketing appeal. These agricultural wastes can be used to prep...

Using the cutting of long fibre reinforced polymer and ceramic particle reinforced aluminium as the examples, this paper tends to understand some common features in the mechanics modelling of machining composites. It demonstrates that an accurate characterisation of matrix deformation, matrix–reinforcement interaction, and reinforcement deformation are key factors for the establishment of amode...

Graphene is one of the stiffest known materials, with a Young's modulus of 1 TPa, making it an ideal candidate for use as a reinforcement in high-performance composites. However, being a one-atom thick crystalline material, graphene poses several fundamental questions: (1) can decades of research on carbon-based composites be applied to such an ultimately-thin crystalline material? (2) is conti...

One of the most important physical factors related to the thermal conductivity of composites filled with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) is the dimensions of the GNPs, that is, their lateral size and thickness. In this study, we reveal the relationship between the thermal conductivity of polymer composites and the realistic size of GNP fillers within the polymer composites (measured using three-d...

Carbon composite nanotubes are the harder than the diamond and composed by carbon. So we can identify the carbon-nanotube-based composite materials by polarized Raman spectroscopy This technique may be used to identify carbon nanotubes , access their dispersion in polymers, evaluate nanotube /matrix interactions and detect polymer phase transitions. The Raman spectra of nanotubes can also be us...

One of the applications of nanomaterials is as reinforcements in composites, wherein small additions of nanomaterials lead to large enhancements in mechanical properties. There have been extensive studies in the literature on composites where a polymer matrix is reinforced by a single nanomaterial such as carbon nanotubes. In this article, we examine the significant synergistic effects observed...

in this research, the effect of different biopolymers such as polyethylene glycol (peg) and polyvinylalcohol (pva) on synthesis and characterization of polymer/cobalt ferrite (cf) nano-composites bymechanical alloying method has been systematically investigated. the structural, morphological andmagnetic properties changes during mechanical milling were investigated by x-ray diffraction (xrd),fo...