Mechanical characterization of a nanofiber enhanced polymer with application to composite crush tubes

The mechanical reinforcing efficiencies of randomly distributed carbon nanofibers in a thermoset polymer material (vinyl ester) are investigated using Mori-Tanaka (M-T) based approaches. For the stiffness, the results of a simplified M-T scheme for aligned nanofibers combined with classical lamination theory (quasi-isotropic lamination approach) are compared with general three dimensional M-T approach for different volume fractions and aspect ratios. In addition, a shear lag theory combined with the quasi-isotropic lamination approach is used to calculate the strength properties of the nano-reinforced matrix. The calculated mechanical properties are used to perform a progressive failure analysis to characterize/simulate the crush performance of a multiscale composite crush tube made of glass fibers and vinyl ester (with and without nanofiber enhancement) matrix. The force-displacement and total damage energy release rate curves show the effect of nanofibers in improving the crush performance of the fiber reinforced composite crush tube. Copyright © 2010 by M. Rouhi, M. Rais-Rohani, T. E. Lacy, F. Abdi, M. Garg.

Mechanical characterization of a nanofiber enhanced polymer with application to composite crush tubes Conference Paper