The Effect of Nanotube Interaction on the Mechanical Behavior of Carbon Nanotube Filled Nanocomposites

This study focus on the effect of the mechanical interaction of the carbon nanotubes used as a filler material in a polymer composite. For this purpose, a representative volume element containing two-wavy carbon nanotubes is modeled by using the finite element method. A compressive displacement is applied to the representative volume element in the axial direction of the carbon nanotubes. Two type of analysis are done. These are the in-contact case in which a mechanical contact interaction between parallel adjacent faces of carbon nanotubes is defined and not defined later for analyzing the out-of-contact case. The effective modulus of elasticity is computed for each of them and the results are compared. The modulus of elasticity is found to be higher in the presence of contact between nanotubes.