A Micromechanical Model of Graphene-Reinforced Metal Matrix Nanocomposites with Consideration of Graphene Orientations
Abstract
In this paper, a new micromechanical model is developed for graphene-reinforced metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) to effectively describe the mechanical properties of the new attractive engineering materials with high specific strength. The key influence of the misorientation of randomly-distributed graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) is especially considered. The strain rate and temperature effects are also introduced through the dislocation-mechanics-based metal matrix model. Then the new model is applied to the nanocomposites of GNP/Al2024, GNP/Al and GNP/Cu, respectively. The comparison of model predictions and experimental data suggests that the model can represent the elastoplastic deformation behaviors of the graphene-reinforced MMNCs well. The strengthening effect by graphene in the nanocomposites is approximately linear to its volume fraction within a small range and also to the aspect ratio of graphene platelets when their average length is less than a critical value. Moreover, the dynamic thermomechanical behavior of the GNP/Al2024 nanocomposite is predicted for the first time. The temperature-softening effect becomes weaker under dynamic loading conditions while the rate sensitivity would be enhanced at elevated temperatures.
Recommended Citation
C. Gao et al., "A Micromechanical Model of Graphene-Reinforced Metal Matrix Nanocomposites with Consideration of Graphene Orientations," Composites Science and Technology, vol. 152, pp. 120 - 128, Elsevier, Nov 2017.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2017.09.010
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Aspect ratio; Composite micromechanics; Dynamic loads; Dynamics; Graphene; Matrix algebra; Metals; Micromechanics; Nanocomposites; Reinforcement; Strain rate; Strengthening (metal); Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs); Metal matrix nano composites; Micro-mechanical modeling; Misorientation angle; Strengthening effect; Metallic matrix composites; Metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs); Micromechanical model
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0266-3538; 1879-1050
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2017 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Nov 2017
Comments
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11272286) and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars (LR13E050001).