Computational Materials Science 77 (2013) 189193

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Computational Materials Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/commatsci

A rened analysis of the inuence of the carbon nanotube distribution

on the macroscopic stiffness of composites
Resam Makvandi a,, Andreas chsner b
a
Department of Solid Mechanics and Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia-UTM, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
b
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia-UTM, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in innumerable areas of industry is increasing day-to-day.
Received 10 March 2013 One of their most important applications is in composite materials as the reinforcing phase. Many
Received in revised form 12 April 2013 researchers studied the behavior of composite materials reinforced with short bers. This paper examines
Accepted 23 April 2013
the effect of the position of short bers on the total stiffness of a composite material reinforced with car-
Available online 21 May 2013
bon nanotubes for various volume fractions. Three different situations have been suggested for the posi-
tion of a CNT ber with respect to the other bers in the composite: completely separated bers, bers
Keywords:
with overlap, and bers connected through a shared node (long bers). Three different cases including a
Carbon nanotube
Short bers
case when just overlaps are allowed, a case when just long bers are allowed and a case when both over-
CNT reinforced composites laps and long bers are allowed have been investigated. It has been shown that the effect of these cases
Overlapped bers on the Youngs modulus of the composite is signicant and that they should be considered for a better
Long bers understanding of the reinforced composites behavior. In addition, it is shown that the effect of the inves-
Shared node tigated cases is more remarkable at higher numbers of randomness values.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The modern world desires new technologies which are based on
new thoughts toward science separated into several categories, for
example, from medicine to aerospace. These new technologies re-
quire new tools created by novel materials; these are critical to
industry because of some of their outstanding properties. Carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) are a kind of these novel materials in which their
applications are emerging day-to-day. CNTs are molecular-scaled
cylindrical hollow structures that were rst discovered by Ijima
in 1991 [1]. Lightness, high toughness and strength are examples
of their superior properties. These properties made them popular
and they have been used as reinforcements for polymer, ceramic
and metal composites. Many researchers have been studying on
nding and improving the properties of CNTs. Most of these stud-
ies predict Youngs modulus of about 1 TPa and tensile strengths of
up to 63 GPa for CNTs [2].
The studies on composite materials reinforced with short bers
started long time ago before discovering CNTs. These studies were
done in two distinct aspects, mathematical modeling and simulat-
ing the behavior of the composites. In 1974, Fukuda and Kawata [3]
proposed a mechanism for interaction between matrix and ber
Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 193069565, +98 9381221663; fax: +98
6114430068.
E-mail addresses: Resam.Makvandi@gmail.com (R. Makvandi), Andreas.
Oechsner@gmail.com (A. chsner).
under the applied load, and based on that predicted Youngs mod-
ulus of short ber reinforced materials. They assumed that the -
bers have been oriented following a certain rule. They also did
not consider the interaction between bers. Based on their nd-
ings, Youngs modulus of composite materials reinforced with uni-
directional continuous bers is greater than that with short bers.
Then in 1984, Tandon and Weng [4] investigated the inuence of
changing the aspect ratio on the effective Youngs modulus of a
transversely isotropic composite. They found out that the longitu-
dinal Youngs modulus increases with increasing the aspect ratio.
After that, Ferrari and his colleague Johnson [5] tried to derive
the effective elastic properties of composites reinforced with arbi-
trary oriented short-bers using the MoriTanaka assumption
which considers the effect of interaction between bers and can
be used for various volume fractions. In 1995, Papathanasiou
et al. [6] combined computational and experimental studies to nd
out how the alignment of bers can improve the effective Youngs
modulus. They used the boundary element method (BEM) for their
computational study and a hydrodynamic method for the experi-
mental part. They came up with the fact that aligned bers are
more effective in stiffening the composite. Sinnot et al. [7] esti-
mated the Youngs modulus for aligned single-walled carbon bers
in 1998. They used one of the properties of nanotubule bers, that
is in the limit of innitely long tubules the bers can have a
Youngs modulus near to diamond, to investigate a new carbon
based composite reinforced with layered nanotubule bers and
diamond. They found out that these kinds of composites have a

0927-0256/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.commatsci.2013.04.060
190 R. Makvandi, A. chsner / Computational Materials Science 77 (2013) 189193

high Youngs modulus, low density and can handle shear and other
distortions. Then in 2000, Hsueh [8] used a modied shear-lag
model to derive the Youngs modulus of a unidirectional discontin-
uous ber composite. The predicted Youngs modulus was in good
agreement with those from the HalpinTsai semi-empirical
equation, the Eshelby model and the experimental results. In
2003, Odegard et al. [9] proposed a technique to develop constitu-
tive models for polymer based composites reinforced with single-
walled nanotubes (SWNTs). They modeled the nanotube and the
nanotube/polymer interface as an effective continuum ber by
implementing an equivalent-continuum modeling method. Veri-
ed the model, they concluded that it can be applied to a range
of related problems that need more accuracy of atomistic-level
descriptions. Thostenson and Chon [10] continued the study on
composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes by investigating
existing challenges in using the carbon nanotubes properties in a
macroscopic composite. They concluded that the reinforced com-
posite elastic properties are very reliant on the nanotube diameter.
Liu and Chen [11] used the BEM for their study. They focused on
existing challenges in modeling the CNT-based composites includ-
ing choosing the model, representative volume elements (RVEs),
interface conditions, etc. They validated their results with the nite
element method (FEM) and found the BEM to be a reliable tool for
the analysis of composites reinforced with CNTs. Recently in 2012,
Eslami and chsner [12] reported their study on investigating the
effects of the distribution of carbon nanotubes on the stiffness
of the composite using FEM. They found randomness to be one of
the vital factors that must be considered in characterization of
these composites. Their ndings show that by increasing the ran-
domness in distribution of bers, the Youngs modulus decreases.
However, the research by Eslami and chsner was limited to
the simplication that the single CNTs are not in contact, i.e.,
completely separated bers. The aim of the actual research is to
continue this recent work and to offer a more realistic modeling
by considering three different cases of ber arrangement: com-
pletely separated bers (as in the previous work), bers with over-
lap, and bers connected through a shared node (long bers). This
consideration of different ber positions is much closer to real dis-
tributions and allows a more accurate prediction of the macro-
scopic properties of the composite material. Other simplications
of the previous work, i.e., consideration of only parallel bers and
perfect bonding between bers and matrix remain unchanged.
cial code MSC.Marc, which is a line element (1D) with two nodes,
has been selected to model CNTs. Also, element 7, a hexagonal so-
lid element (3D), has been chosen to ll the composite as its matrix
phase.
When distributing parallel nanotubes in a composite, there are
three possibilities for positioning the nanotubes with respect to
each other. They may be simply separated from each other, be con-
nected to other nanotubes through a shared node (long ber) or
they may have certain overlaps with others (see Fig. 2). Based on
these arrangements, the reinforced composite Youngs modulus
and Poissons ratio may change. In order to study the effect of posi-
tioning the CNTs on the elastic properties of the composite materi-
als, several numerical tests were done, including the cases that (1)
there are no overlapped or connected bers, (2) just overlaps are
allowed, (3) just long bers are allowed and (4) both overlapped
and long bers are allowed. The obtained results are anticipated
to be closer to the real world results since it is a completely ran-
dom distribution of the unidirectional CNTs in a composite.
Choosing appropriate boundary conditions is one of the
challenging steps in the FEM. The tensile test will be simulated
in this paper. It is one of the most common methods to measure
the Youngs modulus of various materials. To simulate the test,
the bottom surface of the RVE must be xed in z direction and
the top surface will be subjected to a uniform displacement. In
order to expand the results to a bigger model, the lateral surfaces
(zx and zy) of the RVE will also be xed in y and x direction (sym-
metry condition), respectively (see Fig. 3).
Fig. 2. (a) Completely separated bers, (b) bers with a shared node (connected
bers) and (c) overlapping bers.

2. Modeling and simulation

The nite element method (FEM) is one of the most powerful

tools among the numerical approximate methods and has been ap-
plied within this study to predict the elastic properties. Previous
studies showed that nanotubes can be efciently modeled as truss
members [13] (see Fig. 1); based on this, Element 9 in the commer-

Fig. 1. (a) Carbon nanotube, (b) effective ber and (c) truss element. Adapted from
[12]. Fig. 3. Representative volume element (RVE) and the boundary conditions.
 R. Makvandi, A. chsner / Computational Materials Science 77 (2013) 189193 191

Fig. 4. Flowchart indicating the procedure for Case 3 (just overlaps are allowed) (the criterion is the number of required CNTs).

The Matlab software has been used to randomly distribute CNTs Table 1
in the composite. For each state there must be a different script. Material properties of bers and matrix.
Fig. 4 shows the owchart of one of the scripts written to study Element Material Youngs modulus (GPa) Poissons ratio
the effects of overlapping nanotubes on Youngs modulus of com-
Fibers Carbon nanotube 1030 [14] 0.063 [14]
posite materials reinforced with carbon nanotubes (Case 2). First, Matrix LaRC-SI polymer 3.8 [15] 0.4 [15]
a random node of a solid element within the RVE will be selected
as the rst node of the CNT and then the script will check whether
it is a free node or not. A free node is a node that is not part of an- the position of the node with respect to the CNT that already has
other CNT (neither at the start, the end nor in the middle of another this node. Since the goal is to study the Youngs modulus in the
CNT). If it is a free node, the procedure will randomly choose a case that only overlapped CNTs are allowed, if the node is placed
direction along the z-axis to nd the end node of the CNT based on the rst or the end node of another CNT, the program will not
on the length of CNTs; it will also check whether the end node is consider this as a desired CNT and will go to the start and will
free or not. In case that the node is not free, the program will check choose another node (randomly). Otherwise, if the node is placed
192 R. Makvandi, A. chsner / Computational Materials Science 77 (2013) 189193

Table 2 Table 3
Obtained Youngs moduli for randomness of 29,791 nodes. Obtained Youngs moduli and Poissons ratios for different randomly distributed
models for a randomness value of 29,791 nodes and volume fraction of 5.00%.
Volume No overlap, no Just Just long Both overlap and
fraction (%) long ber overlap ber long ber Volume No overlap, no Just Just long Both overlap and
fraction (%) long ber overlap ber long ber
0.00 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8
2.50 10.663 10.706 12.339 12.124 0.00 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8
3.75 14.222 14.087 16.529 16.84 2.50 7.452 7.263 8.67 8.503
5.00 17.126 16.736 20.02 19.929 3.75 9.476 9.472 11.185 10.768
7.74 23.734 23.047 28.149 26.311 5.00 10.705 10.404 12.714 12.772
10.48 29.151 28.445 34.642 32.51 7.74 14.62 14.407 17.499 17.103
10.48 16.725 16.177 20.376 19.785

in the middle of another CNT, it will be accepted and the overlap

counter increases by one unit. The criterion is the number of re-
quired CNTs which equals a corresponding volume fraction [12].
Similarly, for Case 3 where just long bers are allowed, the script
will not accept nodes that are in the middle of other CNTs. The nal
state (Case 4) is a combination of all previous steps. Representing
each CNT by a two-noded line element implies that there is a per-
fect connection between the matrix and the ber.
The RVE dimensions are 60  60  300  nm3. The length of the
CNT is 50 nm, its outer radius is considered as 0.7 nm and the
thickness is 0.34 nm. The material properties for both the CNTs
and the matrix are shown in Table 1. To distribute the CNTs in
the matrix, the rst step is to regularly mesh the RVE with solid
elements which are representing the matrix phase. The ner the
mesh is the more nodes are available as possible sites for the CNTs
which are modeled by truss elements. This means that a matrix
Fig. 5. Estimated Youngs modulus (GPa) vs. nanotube volume fraction (%) for
with more nodes can offer more possible locations for the CNTs
different positions of CNT bers with respect to other CNTs for randomness of
and will result in a more random distribution. In that sense the 29,791 nodes.
number of matrix nodes is understood in this work as the random-
ness value since it is directly linked to available potential sites of
the CNTs. Two different randomness values have been chosen to
perform the analyses (29,791 nodes and 400,221 nodes). Volume
fractions of 0.0% (0 CNT), 2.5% (477 CNTs), 3.75% (716 CNTs),
5.0% (954 CNTs), 7.74% (1477 CNTs) and 10.48% (2000 CNTs) were
used to obtain more accurate results. In order to keep the results of
a volume fraction comparable to results of other volume fractions,
while the distribution is still random, a mechanism was designed
to create models with the same percentage of overlapped and long
bers distributed in the composite: around 24% of overlapped -
bers for the case when just overlapped bers are allowed, 25% of
long bers for the case when just long bers are allowed and nally
20% of overlapped bers and 25% of long bers for the case when
both overlapped and long bers are allowed. For example, for a vol-
ume fraction of 2.5% and randomness of 29,791 nodes, for the case
where just long bers are allowed, we have 174 CNTs that are con-
nected to each other through a shared node. Fig. 6. Estimated Youngs modulus (GPa) vs. nanotube volume fraction (%) for
different positions of CNT bers with respect to other CNTs for randomness of
400,221 nodes.
3. Results and discussion

Tables 2 and 3 show the analyses results for various volume
fractions in different conditions and randomness values. Figs. 5
and 6 also demonstrate these results graphically. All the analyses
were done in the elastic region. When the volume fraction is
0.00%, there is no reinforcing and the Youngs modulus remains
the same as the matrix Youngs modulus. An increase in volume
fraction results in an increase in Youngs modulus of the reinforced
composite. Comparing the results in a specic volume fraction
shows that in the case when just overlaps are allowed, from a prac-
tical point of view there is no change or only a small decrease in
Youngs modulus of the composite with respect to the case that
there is no overlap and no long ber allowed. It is because of the
fact that when overlapping bers are allowed, although in the case
where overlap occurs (when two bers have overlap) (see Fig. 2c)
the result is a ber with longer length, but on the other hand, the
total length of CNTs is smaller and the stiffening effect reduces.
Looking at the results for the case where just long bers are al-
lowed, the largest Youngs moduli are for this case, when two uni-
directional bers are in a position that they have a shared node,
they can be assumed as a long ber with length of two normal -
bers (see Fig. 2b). Since this ber is longer than a normal CNT, it is
stiffer than other bers. Note that in this case the total length of
CNTs is the same as in the case where no overlaps and no long -
bers are allowed (Case 1). Finally, when both overlap and long ber
are allowed, the result is something between the case where just
overlaps are allowed and the case where just long bers are al-
lowed, which can be best shown at larger volume fractions. Since
the number of bers is lower in smaller volume fractions (compar-
ing with large volume fractions), just small changes occur. In addi-
tion, it should be noted that the graphical representation of the
 R. Makvandi, A. chsner / Computational Materials Science 77 (2013) 189193 193

Table 4 be characterized as transverse isotropic. This means that a change

Obtained Youngs moduli for a randomness value of 400,221 nodes. of the direction in the xy plane does not change the material prop-
Model Youngs modulus E Poissons ratio mxz Poissons ratio myz erties from a practical point of view.
No. (GPa) ( ) ( ) The evolution of Poissons ratio is exemplary shown for the case
01 16.74 0.4133 0.4119 of 29,791 nodes, a volume fraction of 5% and just overlaps in Table
02 16.75 0.4127 0.4125 5. A similar trend as in the case of Youngs modulus can be ob-
03 16.68 0.4145 0.4159 served, i.e., increasing values with increasing ber volume fraction.
04 17.00 0.4125 0.4140
05 16.80 0.4137 0.4131
06 16.71 0.4137 0.4160 4. Conclusion
07 16.66 0.4133 0.4165
The effect of the ber position with respect to other bers on
Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio of a composite material rein-
Table 5 forced with carbon nanotubes has been studied. Three different
Obtained Poissons ratios for a randomness value of cases were considered and the analyses results showed that these
29,791 nodes. cases may have signicant effects on the stiffness of the reinforced
Volume fraction (%) Poissons ratio m () composites. Hence, authors suggest that the position of the bers
0.00 0.4 with respect to the other bers must be considered in a realistic
2.50 0.4070 modeling.
3.75 0.4103 Nevertheless, it should also be noted that all these analyses and
5.00 0.4119 results are still based on strong simplications, i.e., all bers are
7.74 0.4172
unidirectional and perfect bonding between bers and matrix. In
10.48 0.4227
real technical applications, when distributing CNT bers in a
composite, they may have arbitrary angles and defects in the
results reveals two groups in both diagrams. The two higher curves bermatrix interface may be present. Our future research must
(both overlap and long ber, and just long ber) and the two lower consider different orientations for the bers in order to have more
ones (no overlap, no long ber and just overlap). It can be seen that realistic results and include imperfect interfaces.
the difference between these two groups is much clearer for higher
numbers of randomness values. Since the algorithms create the References
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