• Advances in nano research
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.443-450
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• 2023

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have received increased interest in reinforcing research for polymer matrix composites due to their exceptional mechanical characteristics. Its high surface area/volume ratio and aspect ratio enable polymer-based composites to make the most of its features. This study focuses on the experimental tensile testing and fabrication of carbon nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC) beams, exploring various micromechanical models. By examining the performance of these models alongside experimental results, the research aims to better understand and optimize the mechanical properties of CNTRC materials. Tensile properties of neat epoxy and 0.3%; 0.4% and 0.5% by CNT reinforced laminated single layer (0°/90°) carbon fiber composite beams were investigated. The composite plates were produced in accordance with ASTM D7264 standard. The tensile test was performed in order to see the mechanical properties of the composite beams. The results showed that the optimum amount of CNT was 0.3% based on the tensile capacity. The capacity was significantly reduced when 0.4% CNT was utilized. Moreover, the experimental results are compared with Finite Element Models using ABAQUS. Hashin Failure Criteria was utilized to predict the tensile capacity. Good conformance was observed between experimental and numerical models. More importantly is that Young' Moduli of the specimens is compared with the prediction Halpin-Tsai and Mixture-Rule. Although Halpin-Tsai can accurately predict the Young's Moduli of the specimens, the accuracy of Mixture-Rule was significantly low.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.80-86
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• 2010

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit excellent mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties as well as nanometer scale diameter and high aspect ratio, which make them an ideal reinforcing agent for high strength polymer composites. The functionalized CNTs are believed to be very promising in the fields such as preparation of functional and composite materials. CNT-Polymer composites are expected to have good processability characteristics of the polymer and excellent functional properties of the CNTs. However, since CNTs usually form stabilized bundles due to Van der Waals interactions, are extremely difficult to disperse and align in a polymer matrix. The biggest issues in the preparation of CNT-reinforced composites reside in efficient dispersion of CNTs into a polymer matrix, and the alignment and control of the CNTs in the matrix. There are several methods for the dispersion of nanotubes in the polymer matrix such as solution mixing, bulk mixing, melt mixing, in-situ polymerization and chemical functionalization of the carbon nanotubes, etc. These methods and preparation of high performance CNT-polymer composites are described in this review.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.385-395
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• 2021

This research concentrates on the effects of distributions and volume fractions of carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the nonlinear bending behavior of deep cylindrical panels reinforced by functionally graded carbon nanotubes under thermo-mechanical loading, hitherto not reported in the literature. Assuming the effects of shear deformation and moderately high value of the radius-to-side ratio (R/a), based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and von Karman type of geometric nonlinearity, the governing system of equations is obtained. The analytical solution of field equations is carried out using the Ritz method together with the Newton-Raphson iterative scheme. The effects of radius-to-side ratio, temperature change, and boundary conditions on the nonlinear response of the functionally graded carbon nanotubes reinforced composite deep cylindrical panel (FG-CNTRC) are investigated. It is concluded that, among the five possible distribution patterns of CNT, FG-V CNTRC deep cylindrical panel is strongest with the highest bending moment and followed by UD, X, O, and Ʌ-ones. Also, considering the present deep cylindrical panel formulation increases the accuracy of the results. Hence, according to the noticeable amount of R/a in FG-CNTRC cylindrical panels, it is mandatory to apply strain-displacement relations of deep cylindrical panels for bending analysis of FG-CNTRC which certainly is desirable for industrial application.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.337-350
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• 2022

This paper focuses on predicting the post-heating mechanical properties of cementitious composites reinforced with multi-scale additives using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach. A total of four different feed-forward ANN models are developed using 261 data sets collected from 18 published sources. The models are optimized using 12 input parameters selected based on a comprehensive literature review to predict the residual compressive strength, the residual flexural strengths, elastic modulus, and fracture energy of heat-damaged cementitious specimens. Furthermore, the ANN is employed to predict the impact of several variables including; the content of polypropylene (PP) microfibers and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used in the concrete, mortar, or paste mix design, length of PP fibers, the average diameter of CNTs, and the average length of CNTs. The influence of the studied parameters is investigated at different heating levels ranged from 25℃ to 800℃. The results demonstrate that the developed ANN models have a strong potential for predicting the mechanical properties of the heated cementitious composites based on the mixing ingredients in addition to the heating conditions.

• Composites Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2019

Although carbon nanotubes(CNTs) have outstanding theoretical mechanical and electrical properties, CNT fibers(CNTFs) have not yet reached that level. Particularly, tensile strength is only about 10% or less, so studies for making up for it are being actively conducted. As a way for improving mechanical strength, methods such as synthesizing long CNT, orientation, chemical cross-linking, hydrogen bonding and polymer infiltration are being studied. In this review paper, we report preparation methods for highly conductive and strong CNTF/Carbon composites through coating and infiltration followed by carbonization of carbon precursor polymers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polydopamine (PDA) on CNTFs.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.612-616
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• 2012

In this work, the effect of chemical treatments of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) on the mechanical interfacial properties of carbon fiber fabric-reinforced composites was investigated. The surface properties of the MWNTs were determined by acid and base values, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The mechanical interfacial properties of the composites were assessed by interlaminar shear stress (ILSS) and critical stress intensity factor ($K_{IC}$). The chemical treatments based on acid and base reactions led to a significant change of surface characteristics of the MWNTs, especially A-MWNTs/carbon fibers/epoxy composites had higher mechanical properties than those of B-MWNTs and non-treated MWNTs/carbon fibers/epoxy composites. These results were probably due to the improvement of interfacial bonding strength, resulting from the acid-base interaction and hydrogen bonding between the epoxy resins and the MWNT fillers.

• Composites Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2017

In this paper, the inter-lamina shear strength (ILSS) of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWNT) reinforced carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and thin-ply composites were verified under low earth orbit (LEO) space environment. CFRP, MWNT reinforced CFRP, thin-ply CFRP and MWNT reinforced thin-ply CFRP were tested after aging by using accelerated ground simulation equipment. The used ground simulation equipment can simulate high vacuum ($2.5{\times}10^{-6}torr$), atomic oxygen (AO, $9.15{\times}10^{14}atoms/cm^2{\cdot}s$), ultraviolet light (UV, 200 nm wave length) and thermal cycling ($-70{\sim}100^{\circ}C$) simultaneously. The duration of aging experiment was twenty hours, which is an equivalent duration to that of STS-4 space shuttle condition. After the aging experiment, ILSS were measured at room temperature ($27^{\circ}C$), high temperature ($100^{\circ}C$) and low temperature ($-100^{\circ}C$) to verify the effect of operation temperature. The MWNT and thin-ply shows good improvement of ILSS at ground condition especially with the thin-ply. And after LEO exposure large degradation of ILSS was observed at MWNT added composite due to the thermal cycle. And the degradation rate was much higher under the high temperature condition. But, at the low temperature condition, the ILSS was largely recovered due to the matrix toughening effect.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2023

This paper deals with the free vibration behavior of rotating composite beams reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under uniform thermal loads. The temperature-dependent beam material is assumed to be a mixture of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in an isotropic matrix and five different functionally graded (FG) distributions of CNTs are considered according to the variation along the thickness, namely the UD-uniform, FG-O, FG-V, FG-Λ and FG-X distributions where FG-V and FG-Λ are unsymmetrical patterns. Considering the Timoshenko beam theory (TBT), a new finite element formulation of functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite (FGCNTRC) beam is created for the first time. And the effects of several essential parameters including rotational speed, hub radius, effective material properties, slenderness ratio, boundary conditions, thermal force and moments due to temperature variation are considered in the formulation. By implementing different boundary conditions, some new results of both symmetric and non-symmetrical distribution patterns are presented in tables and figures to be used as benchmark for further validation. In addition, as an alternative advanced composite application for rotating systems exposed to thermal load, the positive effects of CNT addition in improving the dynamic performance of the system have been observed and the results are presented in several tables and figures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.491-504
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• 2012

In this paper, the nonlinear cylindrical bending of simply supported, functionally graded nanocomposite plates reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), is studied. The plates are subjected to uniform pressure loading in thermal environments and their geometric nonlinearity is introduced in the strain-displacement equations based on Von-Karman assumptions. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTCRs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The governing equations are reduced to linear differential equation with nonlinear boundary conditions yielding a simple solution procedure. Numerical results are presented to show the effect of the material distribution on the deflections and stresses.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.423-428
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• 2010

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs) are expected to be ideal reinforcements of metal matrix composite materials used in aircraft and sports industries due to their high strength and low density. In this study, a high pressure torsion(HPT) process at an elevated temperature(473K) was employed to achieve both powder consolidation and grain refinement of aluminummatrix nanocomposites reinforced by 5vol% CNTs. CNT/Al nanocomposite powders were fabricated using a novel molecular-level mixing process to enhance the interface bonding between the CNTs and metal matrix before the HPT process. The HPT processed disks were composed of mostly equilibrium grain boundaries. The CNT-reinforced ultrafine grained microstructural features resulted in high strength and good ductility.