Energy dissipation due to interfacial slip in nanocomposites reinforced with aligned carbon nanotubes.

TLDR: The model was used to provide additional insight into the experimental observations by showing that the nonlinear variation of damping with dynamic strain can be attributed to slip-stick behavior and the interfacial shear strength was evaluated.

Abstract: Interfacial slip mechanisms of strain energy dissipation and vibration damping of highly aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polymer composites were studied through experimentation and complementary micromechanics modeling. Experimentally, we have developed CNT-polystyrene (PS) composites with a high degree of CNT alignment via a combination of twin-screw extrusion and hot-drawing. The aligned nanocomposites enabled a focused study of the interfacial slip mechanics associated with shear stress concentrations along the CNT-PS interface induced by the elastic mismatch between the filler and matrix. The variation of storage and loss modulus suggests the initiation of the interfacial slip occurs at axial strains as low as 0.028%, primarily due to shear stress concentration along the CNT-PS interface. Through micromechanics modeling and by matching the model with the experimental results at the onset of slip, the interfacial shear strength was evaluated. The model was then used to provide additional insig...