Research progress in nano-meso scale modelling of carbon nanotube reinforced FRP composites

As one of the most promising nanofiller, carbon nanotube has attracted more and more attention due to its extraordinary stiffness and strength. While it is not feasible to obtain the effects of carbon nanotubes on the mechanical properties of composites by solely relying on experimental methods, cleaving and analysing the influence of various parameters of carbon nanotubes on the mechanical properties of composites through numerical simulation methods has become a tendency. Based on the morphology of carbon nanotubes, the nano-meso scale model was proposed. Then three numerical simulation methods were classified depending on the differences between the way of modelling and the objects of discussing. In the end, the influencing law of carbon nanotubes on the mechanical properties of composites was reviewed from two aspects(intrinsic properties of carbon nanotubes, content and distribution of carbon nanotubes), which is expected to provide support to the credibility of results from numerical simulation method.