Author’s Accepted Manuscript

Multi-scale bending, buckling and vibration

analyses of carbon fiber/carbon nanotube-reinforced
polymer nanocomposite plates with various shapes

M. Ahmadi, R. Ansari, H. Rouhi

www.elsevier.com/locate/physe

PII: S1386-9477(17)30021-8
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physe.2017.05.009
Reference: PHYSE12809
To appear in: Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures
Received date: 5 January 2017
Revised date: 12 May 2017
Accepted date: 16 May 2017
Cite this article as: M. Ahmadi, R. Ansari and H. Rouhi, Multi-scale bending,
buckling and vibration analyses of carbon fiber/carbon nanotube-reinforced
polymer nanocomposite plates with various shapes, Physica E: Low-dimensional
Systems and Nanostructures, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physe.2017.05.009
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 Multi-scale bending, buckling and vibration analyses of carbon fiber/carbon
nanotube-reinforced polymer nanocomposite plates with various shapes

M. Ahmadia, R. Ansaria *, H. Rouhib

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 3756, Rasht, Iran
b
Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, East of Guilan, University
of Guilan, P.C. 44891-63157, Rudsar-Vajargah, Iran

*
Corresponding author. Tel. /fax: +98 13 33690276. E-mail address: r_ansari@guilan.ac.ir (R. Ansari)
Abstract

Using a finite element-based multi-scale modelling approach, the bending, buckling and free
vibration of hybrid polymer matrix composites reinforced by carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes
(CF/CNT-RP) are analyzed herein. Thick composite plates with rectangular, circular, annular
and elliptical shapes are considered. First, the equivalent material properties of CF/CNT-RP are
calculated for different volume fractions of CF and CNT. To accomplish this aim, a two-step
procedure is presented through which the coupled effects of nano- and micro-scale are taken into
account. In the first step, modelling of dispersion of CNTs into the polymer matrix is done with
considering interphase formed by their chemical interaction with the matrix, and the equivalent
properties of resulting composite material are determined accordingly. CFs are then dispersed
into CNT-RP which is considered a homogenous material in this step. Both distributions of
CNTs and CFs are assumed to be random. After computing the equivalent properties of
CF/CNT-RP for different volume fractions of its constituents, the bending, buckling and free
vibration analyses of plates with different shapes are performed. It is shown that the
reinforcement of the polymer matrix with both CF and CNT significantly affects the bending,
buckling and free vibration characteristics of plates.

Keywords: Multi-scale modeling; Finite element method; Carbon fiber/carbon nanotube-

reinforced composite plate; Free vibration; Buckling; Bending

1
1. Introduction

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are ideal candidates for using in the reinforcement phase of composite
materials owing to their outstanding mechanical properties [1-6]. Their Young’s modulus and
tensile strength are about 1 TPa and 150 GPa, respectively, which are very larger than those of
steel. Moreover, their lightness is another advantage for using in composite materials. One can
find several works in which the applications of CNTs in composite materials have been reported
[7-11]. CNT-reinforced composites (CNTRCs) with ceramic, metal and polymer matrices can be
used in different cases [12-14].
A literature review shows that the mechanical properties of CNTRCs have been widely
studied. For example, Hu and co-workers [15] evaluated the elastic properties of polymeric
CNTRCs by means of a three-phase representative volume element (RVE) subjected to various
loading conditions. Their RVE consists of CNT, a transition layer between the nanotube and
polymer matrix and an outer polymer matrix body. A micromechanical analysis on the effective
elastic properties of CNTRCs was presented by Seidel and Lagoudas [16]. Joshi and Upadhyay
[17] analyzed the elastic behavior of CNTRCs with considering the interphase effect using a
three-phase continuum model. Bradbury et al. [18] measured the hardness of CNTRCs with Al
matrix by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman
scattering. Nouri et al. [19] predicted the elastic modulus of CNT-reinforced Al nanocomposites
using the finite element method (FEM). Arash et al. [20] investigated the fracture behavior of
CNT-reinforced poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix composites under tension using
molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Ansari and Hassanzadeh Aghdam [21] studied the
viscoelastic response of CNT-reinforced polyimide nanocomposites subjected to the action of
uniaxial and biaxial loads via the micromechanical-based simplified unit cell (SUC) model. The
influence of CNT waviness on the elastic behavior of polymer nanocomposites was explored
based on a three-dimensional unit cell-based micromechanical model by Ansari and his
associates [22]. Also, the bending, buckling and free vibration of CNTRC plates, beams and
shells have been extensively studied within the framework of continuum mechanics [23-31].
Odegard et al. [32] have revealed that the direct use of continuum micromechanical models
may lead to inaccurate results in the analysis of CNTRCs because of not taking the lattice
structure of CNTs into account. Moreover, Tsai et al. [33] has found that CNT/polymer matrix

2
interphase region is one of the most important factors in the analysis of polymeric CNTRCs
which significantly affects the mechanical behavior of the composite. The interphase is formed
by non-bonded van der Waals (vdW) interaction between the CNT and surrounding matrix.
Hence, multi-scale modeling approaches to consider the coupled micro- and nano-scale effects
have been proposed by a number of researchers. For example, Shokrieh and Rafiee [34]
developed a stochastic multi-scale modeling method in order to obtain the mechanical properties
of CNT-reinforced polymers. Joshi et al. [35] proposed a multi-scale approach to study the
chirality effects on the behavior of CNTRCs. Furthermore, Vu-Bac et al. [36] developed a multi-
scale model to analyze the effect of uncertain model inputs on the elastic properties of polymer
nanocomposites.
Recently, carbon nanotube/carbon fiber hybrid multi-scale composites have attracted the
attention of researchers due to their excellent properties [37-43]. To authors’ best knowledge, the
important mechanical behaviors (i.e. bending, buckling and free vibration) of plates made of
such composite materials have not been studied up to now. Since providing reliable results on the
mechanics of CF/CNT-reinforced composite plates can be of great importance in their
applications, the present work is devoted to study their bending, buckling and free vibration. To
this end, a multi-scale FEM is employed. The adopted multi-scale modeling approach consists of
two steps. As the first step, a three-phase RVE model is considered which includes the polymer
matrix, randomly distributed CNTs and interphase region between CNTs and the polymer
matrix. After calculating the equivalent properties of CNT-reinforced polymer (CNT-RP),
another RVE model is considered in which CFs are dispersed into CNT-RP with the properties
determined in the previous step. It should be noted that the distribution of CNTs as well as that
of CFs are assumed to random from the viewpoints of orientation and coordinates. Also, the
polymer matrix and interphase region are considered isotropic, while CFs and CNTs are modeled
as transverse isotropic materials. From the aforementioned dual-step multi-scale modeling, the
macroscopic elastic properties of CF/CNT-RP are first obtained for various volume fractions of
CFs and CNTs. Then, thick clamped rectangular, circular, annular and elliptical composite plates
are considered whose bending, buckling and free vibration are investigated.

3
2. Multi-Scale FEM

Based on a two-step finite element-based multi-scale modeling approach, the elastic properties of
CF/CNT-RP are obtained. In order to accomplish this aim, a three-phase RVE model (including
CNT, polymer and interphase) is first used in which CNTs are dispersed into the polymer matrix.
It is assumed that CNTs are distributed with random orientation and without any overlap with
each other. Also, two-dimensional unit cells are employed to model the nanocomposite RVE.
This RVE model is indicated in Fig. 1. As it is observed, an interphase is considered which is a
layer developed around the CNT embedded in the polymer matrix. The interphase is formed by
non-bonded vdW interaction between the CNT and surrounding polymer matrix. In the next step,
CFs are randomly distributed into CNT-RP to obtain the properties of hybrid CF/CNT-RP
composite. The RVE model of this step is shown in Fig. 2. It is worth mentioning that after the
dispersion of CNTs into the polymer, the equivalent properties of resulting material are
computed. Then, CFs are distributed in that material which is considered to be homogenous with
the properties calculated in the first step. Moreover, the reinforcement is performed for different
volume fractions of CNTs and CFs (fifteen states, see Table 2). In each case, 50 particles (CNTs
with the diameter of 0.78 nm and aspect ratio of 100, or CFs with the diameter of 10 µm and
aspect ratio of 10) are dispersed into the polyimide matrix. In the two-dimensional modeling, the
particles are modeled as rectangles. The shorter side length of the particles is considered as their
diameter. Moreover, the longer side length of the particles is calculated based on the particles
aspect ratio (the ratio of length to diameter). The side length of the square RVEs are computed
via the geometrical parameters of the particle and particles volume fraction in the polymer
matrix. For instance, a CNT-reinforced RVE with volume percentage of 3% has a side length
equal to 318.4 nm.
According to previous studies [33, 44-46], it has been revealed that CNTs are transversely
isotropic materials. Hence, CNT is modeled as a transversely isotropic material herein. Also, the
polymer matrix and interphase are considered as isotropic, while CFs are considered as
transversely isotropic.
A uniaxial tensile test was done on the RVE to compute the elastic modulus. Fig. 3 shows a
schematic view for boundary and loading conditions in obtaining the elastic modulus of
composite. One side of the RVEs is constrained and the strain of the 0.02 is applied to the

4
opposite side. It is assumed that the effective properties of the nanocomposite to be similar to the
properties of the RVE. By measuring the fixed boundary reaction force and calculating stress
value (σ), the equivalent elastic modulus ( of nanocomposite RVE is calculated using Hooke’s
law as follows

(1)

in which denotes the RVE strain in the load direction. It should be noted that for each
reinforcement type, the results are obtained using average values of three analyses with different
random microstructures so as to reduce the influence of chance as a result of random dispersion
on the results.
Fig. 4 presents examples of the meshed RVEs for CNT-RP and CF-RP. After calculating the
equivalent elastic properties of CF/CNT-RP, the bending, free vibration and buckling of plates
made of such composite material are analyzed considering the obtained Young’s modulus results
in the previous simulation as homogenous materials. For the structural analysis, three-
dimensional FE modeling is performed. Thick plates with various shapes including circular,
rectangular, elliptical and annular are considered whose meshed configurations are shown in Fig.
5. The plates are assumed to be under clamped boundary condition. At the micro-scale, an 8-
node biquadratic plane stress quadrilateral element is used. Furthermore, a 20-node quadratic
brick element is employed at the macro-scale.

3. Results and discussion

In order to validate the present multi-scale approach, a comparison is made between the present
results and those reported in [47] for the elastic modulus of CNT-reinforced polypropylene with
randomly oriented reinforcements. Fig. 6 depicts the variation of normalized elastic modulus of
polypropylene reinforced by CNTs versus CNT volume fraction. The results of Ref. [47] are
based on experimental tests, two-level model and two-step model. It is seen that there are good
agreements between the present results and those given in [47]. Difference percentages between
the predictions of present FEM and those of experiment are equal to 2.4, 2.2 and 9.8
corresponding to 1.6%, 3.2% and 4.8% CNT volume fractions, respectively.

5
 To generate the rest of results, polyimide is considered as the polymer matrix whose
properties together with those of CNT, CF and interphase are presented in Table 1. In this table,
longitudinal elastic modulus, transverse elastic modulus, longitudinal Poisson’s ratio, transverse
Poisson’s ratio, longitudinal shear modulus and mass density are denoted by , , , ,
and , respectively. The aspect ratio of CFs is assumed to be equal to 10 with a diameter equal to
10 . Besides, the aspect ratio and diameter of CNTs are selected as 100 and 0.78 nm,
respectively. The thickness of interphase is also taken as 0.3333 nm.
Table 2 presents the equivalent elastic modulus and density of CF/CNT-reinforced polyimide
for several states of reinforcement. According to Table 2, the considered reinforcements can be
classified into three main groups: reinforcement with CNTs (1%, 3% and 5% CNT),
reinforcement with CFs (5%, 10% and 20% CF), hybrid reinforcement with CNTs and CFs. The
third group also consists of nine types of hybrid reinforcement for 5%, 10% and 20% CF. The
properties of polyimide [50] are also given in the table to better show the effect of reinforcement
on the elastic properties. It is observed that the elastic moduli of reinforced polyimides are
significantly larger than that of neat polyimide. For example, the elastic moduli of 5% CNT-RP,
20% CF-RP and 4% CNT- 20% CF-RP are 88.1%, 63.5% and 192.5% larger than that of
polyimide, respectively. Also, one can find that the elastic moduli of polyimide reinforced by the
combination of CFs and CNTs are larger than those of CF-RP and CNT-RP. For example, the
elastic modulus of 4% CNT- 20% CF-RP is respectively 55.5% and 78.8% larger than that of 5%
CNT-RP and 20% CF-RP.
Now, the free vibration, buckling and bending of thick clamped plates made of materials with
properties given in Table 2 are analyzed using FEM. Before embarking on the results, the
validity of the present approach is verified in Table 3. This table shows the first ten frequencies
of an annular plate computed in [51] and by the present FEM. It is observed that there is a good
agreement between two sets of results.
In the following results, the thickness of plates is considered as 10 mm, and other geometrical
parameters are as follows:

( and : length and width of rectangular plate)

: radius of circular plate)

( and : outer and inner radii of annular plate)

6
 ( and : semi-minor axis and semi-major axis of elliptical plate)

First, the bending results are presented. It is assumed that the plates are subjected to a
uniformly distributed load with the magnitude of ⁄ . The maximum deflections of
plates with different shapes for various states of reinforcement are given in Table 4. The
deflected plates are also graphically shown in Fig. 7. Table 4 clearly shows that the maximum
deflection of plates decreases as they are reinforced with CFs and CNTs.
The results related to buckling analysis are also tabulated in Table 5. This table gives the
critical buckling loads of plates with different shapes for various volume fractions of CFs and
CNTs. The loading conditions and buckled configurations are also given in Figs. 8 and 9,
respectively. As expected, the critical buckling load is affected by the type of reinforcement.
Finally the results of free vibration analysis are presented. Table 6 shows the first five natural
frequencies of plates with different shapes for various types of reinforcement. The corresponding
mode shapes are also given in Fig. 10. It should be noted that there are some missing modes
based on the plate theories when the thickness of plate becomes relatively high (due to transverse
shear deformation and coupled bending-shear deformation) especially for some numerical
methods [52-55]. However, since the 3D finite element method (based on the 3D elasticity
theory) is used herein, all modes are captured.

4. Conclusion

Based on a multi-scale modeling approach, hybrid CF/CNT-RP was analyzed in this paper by
FEM. To obtain the macroscopic elastic properties of CF/CNT-RP, an RVE model of randomly
dispersed CNTs in the polymer matrix was first considered, and the properties of CNT-RP were
calculated. In the mentioned RVE, three phases including CNTs, polymer matrix and interphase
were taken into account. Then, an RVE model of randomly dispersed CFs into the CNT-RP
(second reinforcement) was considered, and the properties of CF/CNT-RP corresponding to
different volume fractions of CNT and CF were determined. Polymer matrix/interphase and
CF/CNT are considered to be isotropic and transverse isotropic, respectively. In the next step, the
free vibration, buckling and bending of plates made of CF/CNT-RP were studied. The FEM
results were presented for clamped plates with rectangular, circular, annular and elliptical shapes.

7
It was indicated that by reinforcing the polymer matrix with both CF and CNT, the elastic
modulus is considerably improved. Moreover, the results revealed that such reinforcement has
important effects on the bending, buckling and free vibrations characteristics of plates.

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13
List of Tables:

Table 1: Material properties of CNT, interphase, CF and polyimide

Table 2: Equivalent properties of CNT/CF-reinforced polyimide

Table 3: First ten frequencies of a clamped-free annular plate

Table 4: Maximum deflections (mm) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

Table 5: Critical buckling loads (GPa) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

Table 6: Natural frequencies (Hz) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

List of Figures:

Figure 1: RVE model of randomly dispersed CNTs into the polymer matrix (interphase region is
specified by red color)

Figure 2: RVE model of randomly dispersed CFs into the CNT-RP (second reinforcement)

Figure 3: Boundary conditions and loading for obtaining the elastic modulus of CF-CNT-
polymer composite

Figure 4: Examples of meshed RVEs for a) CNT-RP b) CF-RP

Figure 5: Meshed plates using brick element for (a) rectangular (b) circular (c) annular and (d)
elliptical shapes

Figure 6: Variation of normalized elastic modulus of CNT-reinforced polypropylene with

randomly oriented reinforcements against CNT volume fraction (aspect ratio = 100)

Figure 7: Deformed plates under uniformly distributed load

Figure 8: Loading conditions for the buckling analysis

Figure 9: Buckled plates

Figure 10: Vibration mode shapes of plates

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 Table 1: Material properties of CNT, interphase, CF and polyimide

Material (GPa) (GPa) (GPa) (kg/m3)

CNT [48] 1382.5 645 0.272 0.2 1120 1300

Interphase [48] 19.29 19.29 0.34 0.34 7.2 1305

CF [49] 294 18.5 0.27 0.3 25 1760

Polyimide [50] 4.2 4.2 0.4 0.4 1.5 1310

Table 2: Equivalent properties of CNT/CF-reinforced polyimide

Material
⁄
Polyimide 4.200 1310
1% CNT-RP 4.830 1309.9
3% CNT-RP 6.411 1309.6
5% CNT-RP 7.898 1309.3
5% CF-RP 4.777 1332.5
10% CF-RP 5.314 1355.0
20% CF-RP 6.868 1400.0
0.95% CNT- 5% CF-RP 5.483 1332.4
2.85% CNT- 5% CF-RP 7.242 1332.1
4.75% CNT- 5% CF-RP 8.884 1331.8
0.9% CNT- 10% CF-RP 6.090 1354.9
2.7% CNT- 10% CF-RP 8.015 1354.6
4.5% CNT- 10% CF-RP 9.798 1354.4
0.8% CNT- 20% CF-RP 7.827 1399.9

15
2.4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 10.165 1399.7
4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 12.284 1399.4

Table 3: First ten frequencies (Hz) of a clamped-free annular plate

Mode GDQ [51] Present

number
1 67.03 67.01
2 121.86 121.91
3 121.86 121.91
4 203.17 203.34
5 203.17 203.34
6 283.85 284.15
7 302.85 303.18
8 302.85 303.18
9 340.65 341.01
10 340.65 341.01

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 Table 4: Maximum deflections (mm) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

Rectangular Circular Annular Elliptical

Polyimide 3.371 2.626 0.2720 5.095
1% CNT-RP 2.932 2.284 0.2365 4.431
3% CNT-RP 2.209 1.720 0.1782 3.338
5% CNT-RP 1.793 1.397 0.1446 2.710
5% CF-RP 2.964 2.309 0.2391 4.480
10% CF-RP 2.665 2.076 0.2149 4.027
20% CF-RP 2.062 1.606 0.1663 3.116
0.95% CNT- 5% CF-RP 2.583 2.012 0.2083 3.903
2.85% CNT- 5% CF-RP 1.953 1.523 0.1577 2.955
4.75% CNT- 5% CF-RP 1.592 1.242 0.1286 2.409
0.9% CNT- 10% CF-RP 2.323 1.811 0.1876 3.514
2.7% CNT- 10% CF-RP 1.767 1.376 0.1425 2.670
4.5% CNT- 10% CF-RP 1.444 1.126 0.1166 2.184
0.8% CNT- 20% CF-RP 1.807 1.409 0.1459 2.734
2.4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 1.392 1.085 0.1124 2.105
4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 1.153 0.898 0.0930 1.742

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Table 5: Critical buckling loads (GPa) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

Rectangular Circular Annular

Polyimide 0.1507 0.2499 0.9676
1% CNT-RP 0.3984 0.2874 1.1128
3% CNT-RP 0.5288 0.3815 1.4770
5% CNT-RP 0.6515 0.4699 1.8196
5% CF-RP 0.3941 0.2842 1.1005
10% CF-RP 0.4835 0.3162 1.2243
20% CF-RP 0.5665 0.4086 1.5823
0.95% CNT- 5% CF-RP 0.4523 0.3262 1.2632
2.85% CNT- 5% CF-RP 0.5974 0.4309 1.6684
4.75% CNT- 5% CF-RP 0.7329 0.5286 2.0467
0.9% CNT- 10% CF-RP 0.5024 0.3624 1.4030
2.7% CNT- 10% CF-RP 0.6612 0.4769 1.8465
4.5% CNT- 10% CF-RP 0.8083 0.5830 2.2573
0.8% CNT- 20% CF-RP 0.6457 0.4657 1.8032
2.4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 0.8385 0.6048 2.3419
4% CNT- 20% CF-RP 1.0133 0.7309 2.8300

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 Table 6: Natural frequencies (Hz) of plates made of various materials with different shapes

Material Mode rectangular circular annular Elliptical

Polyimide Mode 1 9431 10655 20462 7585

Mode 2 16333 18375 20655 10310
Mode 3 16333 18375 20655 13730
21807 24160 20879 15747
Mode 4
21807 24160 21462 15762
Mode 5

1% CNT-RP Mode 1 10114 11426 20462 8135

Mode 2 17516 19706 20655 11057
17516 19706 20655 14724
Mode 3
23386 25910 20879 16888
Mode 4 23386 25910 21462 16903
Mode 5

3% CNT-RP Mode 1 11653 13166 23577 9373

Mode 2 20183 22705 23799 12740
Mode 3 20183 22706 23799 16966
26946 29854 24058 19459
Mode 4
26946 29854 24729 19477
Mode 5

5% CNT-RP Mode 1 12936 14615 26172 10405

Mode 2 22404 25204 26418 14142
Mode 3 22404 25205 26418 18833
29912 33139 26705 21600
Mode 4
29912 33140 27450 21620
Mode 5

5% CF-RP Mode 1 9972 11267 20176 8021

Mode 2 17271 19430 20366 10902
Mode 3 17271 19431 20366 14519
23059 25548 20587 16652
Mode 4
23059 25548 21162 16667
Mode 5

10% CF-RP Mode 1 10430 11784 21102 8389

Mode 2 18065 20322 21301 11403
Mode 3 18065 20323 21301 15185

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 Mode 4 24118 26721 21533 17416
Mode 5 24118 26721 22133 17433

20% CF-RP Mode 1 11665 13180 23602 9383

Mode 2 20204 22729 23824 12753
Mode 3 20204 22730 23824 16984
26975 29885 24083 19479
Mode 4
26975 29886 24755 19497
Mode 5

0.95% CNT- 5% CF-RP Mode 1 10684 12071 21616 8594

Mode 2 18505 20817 21820 11681
Mode 3 18505 20818 21820 15555
24706 27371 22057 17841
Mode 4
24706 27372 22672 17857
Mode 5

2.85% CNT- 5% CF-RP Mode 1 12286 13874 24846 9878

Mode 2 21277 23927 25080 13426
Mode 3 21277 23928 25080 17879
28401 31461 25352 20506
Mode 4
28401 31461 26060 20525
Mode 5

4.75% CNT- 5% CF-RP Mode 1 13609 15369 27522 10942

Mode 2 23569 26504 27781 14872
Mode 3 23569 26505 27781 19805
31460 34849 28083 22714
Mode 4
31460 34849 28866 22735
Mode 5

0.9% CNT- 10% CF-RP Mode 1 11171 12616 22592 8981

Mode 2 19347 21757 22804 12207
Mode 3 19347 21757 22804 16257
25824 28606 23052 18645
Mode 4
25824 28607 23695 18663
Mode 5

2.7% CNT- 10% CF-RP Mode 1 12811 14474 25920 10305

Mode 2 22189 24962 26164 14006
Mode 3 22189 24963 26164 18652
29625 32821 26449 21393
Mode 4
29625 32821 27187 21412
Mode 5

4.5% CNT- 10% CF-RP Mode 1 14172 16005 28661 11394

Mode 2 24544 27601 28930 15487
24544 27602 28930 20624

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 Mode 3 32762 36291 29245 23654
Mode 4 32762 36292 30061 23676
Mode 5

0.8% CNT- 20% CF-RP Mode 1 12459 14070 25197 10017

Mode 2 21578 24265 25434 13615
Mode 3 21578 24266 25434 18131
28802 31905 25710 20795
Mode 4
28802 31905 26428 20815
Mode 5

2.4% CNT- 20% CF-RP Mode 1 14200 16036 28716 11416

Mode 2 24592 27655 28987 15517
Mode 3 24592 27656 28987 20664
32826 36362 29302 23700
Mode 4
32826 36362 30119 23722
Mode 5

4 % CNT(with ip)- 20% CF-RP Mode 1 15604 17630 31571 12551

Mode 2 27026 30404 31868 17060
Mode 3 27026 30405 31868 22718
36083 39976 32215 26056
Mode 4
36083 39977 33114 26081
Mode 5

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Figure 1: RVE model of randomly dispersed CNTs into the polymer matrix (interphase region is
specified by red color)

22
Figure 2: RVE model of randomly dispersed CFs into the CNT-RP (second reinforcement)

23
Figure 3: Boundary conditions and loading for obtaining the elastic modulus of CF-CNT-
polymer composite

24
 (a) (b)

Figure 4: Examples of meshed RVEs for a) CNT-RP b) CF-RP

25
 (a) (b)

(d)
(c)

Figure 5: Meshed plates using brick element for (a) rectangular (b) circular (c) annular and (d)
elliptical shapes

26
Figure 6: Variation of normalized elastic modulus of CNT-reinforced polypropylene with
randomly oriented reinforcements against CNT volume fraction (aspect ratio = 100)

27
 Rectangular Circular

Annular Elliptical

Figure 7: Deformed plates under uniformly distributed load

28
Rectangular Circular Annular

Figure 8: Loading conditions for the buckling analysis

29
 Rectangular

Circular

Annular

Figure 9: Buckled plates

30
Mode 1 Mode 2

Mode 3 Mode 4

Mode 5

Figure 10: Vibration mode shapes of plates

31
 Highlights

 Developing a two-step multi-scale modeling approach to study carbon fiber/carbon

nanotube-reinforced polymers (CF/CNT-RP) via FEM
 Considering interphase between CNT and polymer matrix
 Computing the elastic properties of CF/CNT-RP for different volume fractions of
CNT and CF
 Bending, buckling and free vibration analysis of plates made of CF/CNT-RP with
various shapes

32