Multiscale micromechanical modeling of the constitutive response of carbon nanotube-reinforced structural adhesives

Appropriate formulations are developed to allow for the atomistic-based continuum modeling of nano-reinforced structural adhesives on the basis of a nanoscale representative volume element that accounts for the nonlinear behavior of its constituents; namely, the reinforcing carbon nanotube, the surrounding adhesive and their interface. The newly developed representative volume element is then used with analytical and computational micromechanical modeling techniques to investigate the homogeneous dispersion of the reinforcing element into the adhesive upon both the linear and nonlinear properties. Unlike our earlier work where the focus was on developing linear micromechanical models for the effective elastic properties of nanocomposites, the present approach extends these models by describing the development of a nonlinear hybrid Monte Carlo Finite Element model that allows for the prediction of the full constitutive response of the bulk composite under large deformations. The results indicate a substantial improvement in both the Young’s modulus and tensile strength of the nano-reinforced adhesives for the range of CNT concentrations considered.