57th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference at AIAA SciTech 2016 San Diego, California, USA 4-8 January 2016

AIAA-2016-0936

A Coupled Electromechanical Peridynamics Framework for Modeling Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer Composites

N. Prakash and G. Seidel
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24061-0203, USA

Peridynamics, a non local continuum theory, has been extended in this work for modeling electromechanical problems. A coupled electromechanical framework is developed so that this may be used to investigate carbon nanotube reinforced polymer nanocomposite materials. Governing peridynamic equations for electrical conduction are derived, and a specific application to piezoresistive response of carbon nanotube composites at the bundle scale and nanocomposite bonded explosive materials at the microscale is discussed. At the bundle scale, the effect of volume fraction, electron hopping and deformation is investigated. In particular, it is shown that the horizon distance can be calibrated using relevant physics of the length scale. At the microscale, the material is considered to be inherently piezoresistive, arising from the nanoscale phenomena of electron hopping. The piezoresistive properties of the material is investigated in response to applied strain and resulting damage in the microstructure.