Modeling of the effective elastic properties of multifunctional carbon nanocomposites due to agglomeration of straight circular carbon nanotubes in a polymer matrix

In the present study, the effective elastic properties of multifunctional carbon nanotube composites are derived due to the agglomeration of straight circular carbon nanotubes dispersed in soft polymer matrices. The agglomeration of CNTs is common due to the size of nanotubes, which is at nanoscales. Furthermore, it has been proved that straight circular CNTs provide higher stiffness and elastic properties than any other shape of the nanofibers. Therefore, in the present study, the agglomeration effect on the effective elastic moduli of the CNT polymer nanocomposites is investigated when circular CNTs are aligned straight as well as distributed randomly in the matrix. The Mori-Tanaka micromechanics theory is adopted to newly derive the expressions for the effective elastic moduli of the CNT composites including the effect of agglomeration. In this direction, analytical expressions are developed to establish the volume fraction relationships for the agglomeration regions with high, and dilute CNT concentrations. The volume of the matrix in which there may not be any CNTs due to agglomeration is also included in the present formulation. The agglomeration volume fractions are subsequently adopted to develop the effective relations of the composites for transverse isotropy and isotropic straight CNTs. The validation of the modeling technique is assessed with results reported, and the variations in the effective properties for high and dilute agglomeration concentrations are investigated.