FEM analysis of the stiffness evolution in clustered composites and nanocomposites

Abstract

This work is aimed at studying the stiffness evolution of clustered composites and nanocomposites by FEM analysis. In fully dispersed composites and nanocomposites, proper modeling requires accounting for nanoparticle aspect ratio, volume fraction, and angle of orientation. In addition to these, the FEM model proposed in this work accounts for number of nanoparticles and volume fraction of nanoparticles in the cluster. The proposed approach allowed to calculate the longitudinal modulus and the other elastic constants of clustered composites, showing significant differences with the modulus of fully disperse composites.

Keywords:

• Cluster
• discontinuous fibers
• FEM
• mesoscale
• orientation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.