Sharif Digital Repository

Nanodiamond (ND)is an allotrope of carbon nanomaterials which exhibits many outstanding physical, mechanical, thermal, optical and biocompatibility characteristics. Meanwhile, ND particles possess unique spherical shape containing diamond-like structure at the core with graphitic carbon outer shell which intuitively contains many oxygen-containing functional groups at the outer surface. Such superior properties and unique structural morphology of NDs are essentially attractive to develop polymer composites with multifunctional properties. However, despite a long history from the discovery of NDs, which is dated back to the1960s, this nanoparticle has been less explored in the field of... 

The use of hybrid filler is a promising strategy for development of thermally conductive polymer composites. This paper reported the measurement of thermal conductivity of the epoxy composite filled with a hybrid filler of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) and silicon carbide (SiC) microparticles. For this hybrid filler, the effect of the average size of SiC on composite thermal conductivity was examined. The results showed that the thermal synergistic effect was highly affected by the average size of the SiC. By using a hybrid filler of 11% vol. GNP and 9% vol. 1 µm-size SiC micro-particles thermal conductivity has reached 3.44 W m−1 K−1. This value is 42% higher than the thermal conductivity of... 

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced polymer composites have attracted great attention due to their exceptionally high strength. Their high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in practical nanocomposites. In this article, a new three-phase molecular structural mechanics/finite element (MSM/FE) multiscale model is used to study the effect of CNT vacancy defects on the stability of single-wall (SW) CNT-polymer composites. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using MSM, whereas the interphase layer and polymer matrix are analyzed by the FE method. The nanotube and polymer matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions... 

Crashworthiness, energy absorption capacity, and safety are important factors in the design of lightweight vehicles made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRP) components. The relatively recent emergence of the nanotechnology industry has presented a novel means to augment the mechanical properties of various materials. As a result, recent attempts have contemplated the use of nanoparticles to further improve the resiliency of resins, especially when resins are used for mating FRP components. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the response of nanoreinforced polymer composites, subjected to various rates of loading, is of paramount importance for developing reliable structures.... 

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is one of the most widely used halogen-free flame retardant, added in various resins to improve the fire properties, such as flame and smoke spread ratings and LOI, of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of using APP, as a fire-retardant filler, on mechanical properties (i.e. ultimate tensile, flexural, and bond strength) of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Based on two fiber types (i.e. carbon and glass) and three different APP mass fractions in resin (i.e. 0, 20, and 40% of total weight of matrix), six sets of specimens were prepared for each... 

A new analytical formulation is presented to study the steady-state creep in short fiber composites using complex variable method. In this new approach, both the fiber and matrix creep at low stresses and temperatures. To analyze the crept fiber, a plane stress model was used. Important novelties of the present analytical method are determination of displacement rates with proper boundary conditions in the crept fibers and also using the complex variable method in creep analyzing. It is noteworthy that the method can be useful to study the creep behavior in polymeric matrix composites due to their high capability of creep. Moreover, another significant application of the present method is to... 

CNT-reinforced polymer composites have attracted attention due to their exceptional high strength. The high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in the practical nanocomposites. In this paper, a Molecular Structural Mechanics / Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling is used to study the effect of carbon nanotube geometrical defects on the stability of SWCNT-polymer composites. Here, two types of representative volume elements (RVEs) for these nanocomposites are considered with perfect and defected CNT. These RVEs have the same dimensions. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using molecular structural mechanics whereas the... 

Due to the wide applications of three-dimensional graphene (3DG) foam in bio-sensors, stretchable electronics, and conductive polymer composites, predicting its mechanical behavior is of paramount importance. In this paper, a novel multiscale finite element model is proposed to predict the compressive modulus of 3DG foams with various densities. It considers the effects of pore size and structure and the thickness of graphene walls on 3DG foams' overall behavior. According to the scanning electron microscope images, a unit cell is selected in the microscale step to represent the incidental arrangement of graphene sheets in 3DG foams. After derivation of equivalent elastic constants of the... 

The surface defluorination of Teflon in powdery form was performed using a chemical treatment. The reaction parameters including the reaction time, sodium, naphthalene concentrations were optimized using a Taguchi method to obtain maximum functionality on the particles surface. The surface functionality of the treated particles was analyzed by FTIR, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and surface energy. Both treated (g-PTFE) and untreated (PTFE) Teflon were added to polyamide 66 (PA66) at various loadings up to 6 wt%. Mechanical, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and tribological analyses for different PA66/Teflon composites were carried out. The chemical treatment enhanced the... 

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the behavior of concrete cylinders externally wrapped with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and internally reinforced with steel spirals. The experimental work was performed by testing 30 concrete cylinders (120 × 400mm2) subjected to pure compression to achieve the complete stress-strain curve. Test specimens were confined with various internal and external confinement ratios and different types of confining material such as steel, Carbon FRP (CFRP) and Glass FRP (GFRP). The compressive strength, corresponding strain and the complete stress-strain curve of the tested specimenswere indicated. The test results showthat the... 

In this paper, new polymer composites were synthesized by template copolymerization of aniline and metanilic acid in the presence of prepared melamine triacetic acid and poly(melamine-co-citric acid) as polyacids and dopants. The properties of the poly(aniline-co-metanilic acid) composites were studied by Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, CV, and differential scanning calorimeter analysis. The four-point probe technique was used for evaluating the electrical conductivity of the composites. The scanning electron micrographs disclosed that the products had the morphology with agglomerated distorted spherical shapes with the average size of 40–50 nm.... 

In this paper, new polymer composites were synthesized by template copolymerization of aniline and metanilic acid in the presence of prepared melamine triacetic acid and poly(melamine-co-citric acid) as polyacids and dopants. The properties of the poly(aniline-co-metanilic acid) composites were studied by Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, CV, and differential scanning calorimeter analysis. The four-point probe technique was used for evaluating the electrical conductivity of the composites. The scanning electron micrographs disclosed that the products had the morphology with agglomerated distorted spherical shapes with the average size of 40–50 nm.... 

In this article, a Molecular Structural Mechanics/Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling of carbon nanotube/polymer composites with viscoelastic (VE) polymer matrix is introduced. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using structural molecular mechanics. The matrix deformation is analyzed by nonlinear finite element method considering VE behavior. The nanotube and matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions based on the Lennard-Jones potential at the interface. Using the MSM/FE multiscale model, we investigate the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) on the improvement of mechanical stability of the nanocomposite. Also, the buckling behavior of these... 

Ground-source heat pumps, as the most environmentally friendly and energy-efficient air conditioning technology, suffer from a great required length of ground heat exchanger, partly arising from the low thermal conductivity of high-density polyethylene tubes commonly used in ground heat exchangers. In an attempt to find a replacement with an acceptable thermal conductivity for high-density polyethylene tubes, in this study, first, a comprehensive comparative study on fillers commonly used in thermally conductive polymer composites and resulting high-density polyethylene composites was conducted. Then, based on the advantages and disadvantages presented, an appropriate composite was selected...