Effect of aluminum carbide interphase on the thermomechanical behavior of carbon nanotube/aluminum nanocomposites

Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate the coefficient of thermal expansion of carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum matrix nanocomposites in which aluminum carbide (Al4C3) interphase formed due to chemical interaction between the carbon nanotube and aluminum matrix is included. To this end, the micromechanical finite element method along with a representative volume element, which incorporates, carbon nanotube, interphase, and aluminum matrix is employed. The emphasis is mainly placed on the effect of Al4C3 interphase on the coefficient of thermal expansion of aluminum nanocomposites with random microstructures. The effects of interphase thickness, carbon nanotube diameter, and volume fraction on the thermomechanical response of aluminum nanocomposite are discussed. The results reveal that the effect of Al4C3 interphase on the coefficient of thermal expansion of the aluminum nanocomposites becomes more significant with (i) increasing the coefficient of thermal expansion volume fraction, (ii) decreasing the coefficient of thermal expansion diameter, and (iii) increasing the interphase thickness. It is clearly observed that the coefficient of thermal expansion varies nonlinearly with the carbon nanotube diameter; however, it decreases linearly as the carbon nanotube volume fraction increases. Furthermore, the axial and transverse coefficient of thermal expansions of aligned continuous and discontinuous carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminum nanocomposites with Al4C3 interphase are predicted. Also, the presented finite element method results are compared with the available experiment in the literature, rule of mixture, and concentric cylinder model results.

A study on microstructural effect and mechanical behaviour of Al6061–5%SiC–TiB2 particulates reinforced hybrid metal matrix composites

“…17 and Shi et al. 18 The said cluster formation also takes place if the solid-based magnesium solution in aluminium matrix reacts with Al 2 O 3 and forms Al 2 MgO 4 . 19 But, TiB 2 ceramic particulate has a good high thermal stability in molten aluminium metals, and this bears both solid state and liquid state techniques to be used for the fabrication of Al–TiB 2 composites.…”

Stochastic Finite Element Modelling of Char Forming Filler Addition and Alignment – Effects on Heat Conduction into Polymer Condensed Phase

“…The advent of engineered nanoparticles with high aspect ratio, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNT), and their availability in quantities relevant for industrial production, has greatly expanded opportunities to modify polymers to meet demanding requirements in a broad range of applications. Such nano-additives have been shown to improve polymer mechanical (e.g., stiffness, strength and fracture properties) as well as physical characteristics (e.g., electrical and thermal conductivity), see e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The same holds true in the context of flame retardancy.…”

Multiscale analysis of the low-velocity impact behavior of ceramic nanoparticle-reinforced metal matrix nanocomposite beams by micromechanics and finite element approaches

“…Shi et al. 5 investigated the coefficient of thermal expansion of CNT-Al nanocomposites by finite element method (FEM) along with a representative volume element. It was found that the coefficient of thermal expansion varies nonlinearly with the CNT diameter.…”

“…4 MMNCs have higher strength and stiffness in comparison with conventional metal matrix composites filled with microscale particles while maintaining the ductility of the metals. 4,5 Various types of metal materials such as aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), and their alloys have been utilized as the matrix phase. [6][7][8][9] Among them, Mg is the lightest metal which its density ranges from 1.74 to 2.0 g/cm 3 as being 33% lighter than Al.…”

“…Although these models mentioned above can roughly predict the MMNC elastic modulus; however, they are unable to describe the nano-sized particle agglomeration phenomenon which is very common in MMNCs. Shi et al 5 investigated the coefficient of thermal expansion of CNT-Al nanocomposites by finite element method (FEM) along with a representative volume element. It was found that the coefficient of thermal expansion varies nonlinearly with the CNT diameter.…”