Assessment of dominant factors affecting the fracture toughness of polymer/clay nanocomposites using finite element method. (November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Montazeri, A; Kamrava, S; Yeganeh, MHH
• Is Part Of: Journal of reinforced plastics and composites. Volume 36:Number 21(2017)
• Page Start: 1545
• Page End: 1553
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Subjects: Polymeric composites -- clay -- dispersion -- finite element method -- deformation -- fracture; Reinforced plastics -- Periodicals; Composite materials -- Periodicals; 620.1923
• DOI: 10.1177/0731684417716785
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0731-6844

Abstract

The present work is dedicated to the numerical investigation of the influence of clay volume fraction and orientation on the crack growth, and thus, fracture toughness of polymer/clay nanocomposites. Several samples containing different amounts of clay nanofillers are examined using finite element method. It is revealed that there exists a correlation between the clay contents and fracture toughness of these nanocomposites. Additionally, particular attention is also given to incorporate the dispersion level of clay platelets in the base polymer. Accordingly, a dispersion quantification technique is employed. The results demonstrate that while increasing the clay volume fraction can postpone the crack growth, this phenomenon is highly dependent on the dispersion level and arrangement of clay platelets near the crack tip simultaneously.