Heating and mechanical characteristics of carbon nanotube-incorporated polymeric composites

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the heating and mechanical characteristics of carbon nanotube (CNT)-incorporated polymeric composites. Many recent studies have focused on the incorporation of CNT, which has outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, in the polymer matrix for the development of highly functional and advanced composites. However, it remains at the level of realizing the limited performance of the composites, and in-depth research on the durability and stability of the composites has not been conducted, resulting in a large technological gap in the commercialization stage. In this regard, the heating and mechanical characteristics of CNT-incorporated polymeric composites are identified experimentally and predicted using micromechanics in this dissertation. This dissertation can be categorized into four aspects as follows: 1) developing a physicomechanical approach to dispersion of CNT in polymeric composites, 2) predicting the electrical properties of polymeric composites incorporated with CNT and carbon fiber, 3) identifying heat-dependent electrical properties of CNT-incorporated polymeric composites under a self-heating condition, and 4) predicting the mechanical behavior of CNT and carbon fiber-reinforced composites. The obtained results in the dissertation establish fundamental knowledge of heating mechanism and improvement in the mechanical performance of CNT-incorporated polymeric composites. Furthermore, these results introduce multiscale modeling based on micromechanics for the prediction of the effective properties of composites. The dissertation can not only offer a comprehensive understanding of composites but can also be utilized in the field of applications for composites.