STRESS THANSFER MODELING IN CNT REINFORCED COMPOSITES USING CONTINUUM MECHANI S

Because of the substantial differe nce in stiffness between mat rix and nanotube in CNT com pos ite. the stress trans fe r between them con tro ls their mechanica l prope rties. This paper inve stigates the said issue . ana lytically and numerically, in axial load us ing represe ntative volume element (RYE). The ana lytica l model was estab lished based on the modified Cox s shear lag model with the use of some simplified ass umptions. Some. in the develo ped shear lag model, the CNT assumes hollow tiber. Solving the govern ing differential equation, led the high shear stress in interface especially in the CNT cap. In addit ion, some tinite element models were pe rformed with diffe rent aspect ratios and the shear stress pattern esp ec ially in interface was ca lcu lated numer ically. Despi te some simplified assumptions that were performed wit h these two model s such as elastic beh avior and full conne ctivity. and the comparison of their results with other numerical models show adequate agreement.