TITLE:
Characterizing and Modeling Mechanical Properties of Nanocomposites-Review and Evaluation
AUTHORS:
Hurang Hu, Landon Onyebueke, Ayo Abatan
KEYWORDS:
Nanocomposites; Mechanical properties; Multiscale modeling; Finite elementanalysis (FEA); Object-oriented modeling.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.9 No.4,
April
20,
2010
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a critical review of the current work of experiment, theory of micro-nanomechanics,
and numerical analysis on characterizing mechanical properties of nanocomposites.
First, the classifications of nanomaterials are presented. Then nanoindentation testing and the
corresponding finite element modeling are discussed, followed by analytical modeling stiffness of
nanocomposites. The analytical models discussed include Voigt and Reuss bounds, Hashin and
Shtrikman bounds, Halpin–Tsai model, Cox model, and various Mori and Tanaka models. These
micromechanics models predict stiffness of nanocomposites with both aligned and randomly
oriented fibers. The emphasis is on numerical modeling includes molecular dynamics modeling
and finite element modeling. Three different approaches are discussed in finite element
modeling, i.e. multiscale representative volume element (RVE) modeling, unit cell modeling, and
object-oriented modeling. Finally, the mechanism of nanocomposite mechanical property
enhancement and the ways to improve stiffness and fracture toughness for nanocomposites are
discussed.