Viscoelastic behavior of carbon nanotube-enriched epoxy matrix hybrid composites reinforced with unidirectional graphite fibers

Abstract

Anisotropic viscoelastic behavior of high-performance unidirectional polymer-based hybrid composites (UPHCs) in which graphite fibers are embedded into the epoxy matrix enriched by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is evaluated. A hierarchical micromechanical model consisted of Mori–Tanaka and method of cell approaches is derived to predict the viscoelastic properties of graphite fiber/CNT-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites. The results of micromechanical model are validated with experimental measurements. Adding CNTs into the unidirectional composites leads to an improvement of transverse viscoelastic properties. The effects of amount, dispersion and geometrical features of CNTs, interphase characteristics and fiber volume fraction on the hybrid composite viscoelastic properties are investigated.

Keywords:

• Hybrid composite
• graphite fiber
• carbon nanotube
• anisotropic viscoelastic
• micromechanics