MAE 287/EE 257

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Definition and categories of composites

History of composites materials

Reinforcement and Matrix

Composites Manufacturing:
1. Pressure molding
2. Resin transfer molding
3. Filament winding
4. Pultrusion

Material properties: mechanical, electrical, thermal properties

CNT/CNF composites

Ceramic/Metal composites

Other composites
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General definition
 A heterogeneous material consisting of a reinforcing material in the form
of fibers, whiskers, platelets, and particulates dispersed in a continuous
matrix materials.
 Unique mechanical, chemical, thermal, optical, or electrical properties that
individually would not be possible.

Nanocomposites
 Multiphase materials where the phases have dimension < 100 nm
 Nanolayers
 Nanofibers
 Nanoparticles

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 Similar with fiber pultrusion
4

http://www.harunyahya.com/books/science/biomimetics/biomimetics01.php
800 B.C. Straw-reinforced mud bricks in Egypt
1930 Fiberglass (Owens Corning Fiberglass
Company, US)
1937 Fiberglass polymer (phenolic resin) for aircraft
manufacturing tools (die, mold)
1938 Epoxy invented
1939-1945 WWII Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) in
airplane and boat
1960’s Aerospace industry led composites research.
Boron, graphite, aramid (Kevlar, DuPont) fibers. Boeing 787 Dreamliner
PMC, MMC, CMC
1970’s CCC
1980’s Stealth materials in Air force and Navy
Present Nano composites in energy / bio apps.

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 Materials E (GPa) E/ρ (GPa m3/kg)
Epoxy 2.4 0.0022
Graphite fiber 230 0.1278
Glass fiber 85 0.0340
Graphite/epoxy 181 0.1131
Glass/epoxy 38.60 0.0214
Steel 200 0.0265
Al 68.95 0.0266

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• Matrix Phase
– Polymers (PMC)
– Metals (MMC)
– Ceramics (CMC)
– Carbon (CCC)

• Reinforcement Phase
– Fibers: Nanotubes
– Platelets: Nanoplatelets
– Particles: Nanoparticles.

• Interphase
– Chemical Bonding
– Physical Bonding
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Spray

Prepreg (half-cured resin and reinforcement) Autoclave curing

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 Fiber (reinforcement, C fiber with CNT)
Architecture:
• Permeability
• Capillary forces

http://www.netcomposites.com/education.asp?sequence=59 11
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 CNT Yarn
CNT Sheet

Resin transfer molding

application

Filament
winding
application

http://www.nanocomptech.com/html/nanocomp-technology.html 13
http://www.zoltek.com/carbonfiber/
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15
 E
L

L0
F  A

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 Thermal  T

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http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/?n=/ltg/plane_japan.php

High mechanical as well as electrical

properties are required for structural
composites

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 SWNT MWNT

Diameter
0.4 - 3 1.4 - 100
(nm)

Specific area
400 - 900 200 - 400
(m2/g)

Young’s Modulus (GPa) Tensile strength (GPa) Conductivity (S/cm) Therm. conductivity (W/m K)

CNT ~ 1000 13-53 103-104/10-1 1800 - 6000

Glass fiber 69-85 3.4-4.7 0.05

Graphite fiber 1000 1.28 x 103 180

Steel 200 0.65-3 5.7 – 9.4 x 104 16

Cu 115 0.2 5.8 x 105 400

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube 20
http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/08/31/carbon-nanotubes-stimulate-single-retinal-neurons/
  Adhesion between CNT and polymer matrix such as
epoxy
 Homogeneous dispersion in the matrix
 Aligned CNT along the loading direction

Surveys for Nano Projects:

1. Chemical modification (covalent and non-covalent) of CNT

2. Uni-directional growth of CNT (CNT forest)

3. Resin Transfer Molding using CNT sheet/CNT-carbon cloth

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Left: Chemical modification of SWNT: (1) oxidation with strong acids, reflux,
temperature > 100°C, to produce carboxylic acid reaction sites –COOH, (2) chemical
reaction with acetyl amide to form reactive terminal group, (3) and (4) addition of free
radical initiator and styrene monomer to initiate polymerization process, (5) propagation
and subsequent termination of the polymerization process to form a polystyrene. Right:
Chemically modified SWNTs aligned in an electric field are cross-linked by polystyrene
chains. Anisotropic mechanical properties result from such alignment.
Mechanical improvement

CNT-Epoxy composites

• Most studied
• Tensile strength:
0 – 150 % increase
• Young’s Modulus:
0 – 300 % increase

Factors affecting properties

1. CNT types
2. CNT treatment
3. Weight fraction
4. Process method

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Electrical improvement

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Weight fraction vs. Mechanical & Electrical properties

Dispersion of CNT in matrix is the key to improve

mechanical and electrical properties.

Tseng et al. Chem. Mater. 2007. 19. 308

Ounaies et al. Comp.Sci.Tech. 2003. 63. 1637 25
 10000

1000

100

10

 (S/cm)
1600
1
1400 12.9%
0.1
10.9%
1200
0.01 8.95%
Vc=0.006 1000

Stress (psi)
0.001 6.87%
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 800
V-Vc 4.68%
600

CNT polymer composite Electrical conductivity of polymer/CNT 400

1.21%
0%
Composite. 200

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Strain (%)

Tensile mechanical properties of a

polymer/CNT Composite.

CNTs can be uniformly dispersed in the polymer and cement

matrixes. The bonding between the CNTs and the matrixes can
form new composite materials. It is found that with proper
dispersion, CNTs can significantly improve mechanical, electrical,
thermal properties of the matrixes.
CNT cement composite
L. Ci, J. Bai / Composites Science and Technology 66 (2006) 599–603

Zhang et al. Nanotechnology 19 (2008) 285709 27

Recreational applications of
nanomaterials include the Babolat
tennis racquet depicted in the
figure. The racquet’s structure at
the throat of the frame is
reinforced with CNT composite
materails that affords the player
better power, control, and
stability. ―NS‖ stands for nano-
strength technology.
The concept of the space
elevator is shown. An
elevator anchored on Earth
(on the ocean surface) at
one end and placed in
geosynchronous orbit at the
other is indeed a ―far out‖
concept that stretches the
imagination to its ultimate
limit. Carbon nanotubes are
the only material that has
the necessary strength to
pull this off.
AFM probe
NASA's Morphing Glider
will have flexible CNT
wings that move like a
hawk's. The wings will
curl, twist, extend and
twitch...

Super-strong CNTs may

make space elevators
feasible
CNT-reinforced tennis racket
Woven nanotube yarns at the University
of Texas at Dallas. (a) Fibers are woven
in a way similar to the way early humans
did it—by rolling random strands until a
fiber is formed. (b) Several weaving and
braiding steps are required to make the
yarn seen at the left. 10-nm diameter
agglomerated MWNTs are woven into
30-nm diameter bundles. The 30-nm
bundles form a yarn that is 1 μm in
diameter. The next step is to form a plied
yarn that is 6 μm in diameter. And finally,
the yarn is braided to form the image in
the figure to the left—40 μm or 0.04 mm
in diameter. (c) A fabric is woven from
the yarns, representing a higher level in
the nanotube hierarchy. These
accomplishments are absolutely amazing.
 CNT Yarn CNT Sheet

Resin transfer molding

application

Filament
winding
application

http://www.nanocomptech.com/html/nanocomp-technology.html 32
 CNTs on carbon fabric Epoxy resin transfer (VARTM)

R.B. Mathur et al. Composites Science and Technology 68 (2008) 1608–1615

Green et al. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing 40 (2009) 1470-1475

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 B. Wardle group (MIT)

Wardle et al. Adv. Mat. 2008. 9999. 1-8 34

High mechanical and electrical properties due
to its graphene structure (sp2)

• Young’s modulus, E= 1000 GPa

• High electrical conductivity (103 S/cm)
• Lower cost compared with CNT

Price from http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/

Graphite nanofiber: $34/g

MWNT: $142/g
SWNT: $765/g

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High Tm 2200 oC
Low density 2.34 g cm-3
Young’s modulus 380 – 400 GPa
Tensile strength 2.80 GPa

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Si-C: 318 kJ/mol (C-C 346 kJ/mol)

In case of carbon core,

Young’s modulus 430 GPa
Tensile strength 3.40 GPa

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 Clay composites
Functional NP composites (e.g. Magnetic NP)

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Fe2O3 nanoparticles in vinyl ester matrix

Guo et al. J. App. Phys. 2008. 104. 014314 43

Reading:
Textbook, Chapter 24; 9.2; 13.1.2

Extensive reading:
 References
 Spitalsky, Z., Tasis, D., Papagelis, K., Galiotis, C., Progress in
Polymer Science 35, 357-401 (2010)
 Kainer, K.U. Metal Matrix Composites: Custom-made Materials for
Automotive and Aerospace Engineering, Wiley. Chapter 1

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