Applicability of rule of mixtures to estimate effective properties of nanocomposite materials

Abstract

A rule of mixtures is employed and modified to examine the effective elastic properties of a unidirectional composite lamina reinforced with nanostructure-hybrid fibers. Such fiber system is designated when nanostructure such as nanowires or carbon nanotubes are radially grown on the surface of primary fiber. When combines with matrix, a complex three-phase composite with enhanced elastic properties is expected. Herein, the applicability of this simple micromechanics method to reliably estimate the effective properties of such advanced novel composite material is assessed. The results demonstrated that the method is capable of modeling the effects on elastic properties of a composite due to the presence of nanostructure. However, in light of published experimental data and other micromechanics results, the proposed method is found to be at best, applicable for a composite that has a very low fiber volume fraction only except when an axial Young’ modulus is predicted. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020