A novel micromechanical model for predicting the shear properties of multilayer Ti3C2Tx MXene/carbon fiber fabric/epoxy composite

Nowadays, it is still a huge challenge to predict the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of three-phase carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Herein, the three-phase micromechanical model is innovatively constructed to predict the ILSS of CFRP, and the conception of new matrix is proposed by establishing a connection between the third phase and the matrix, which effectively solves the problem of uneven distribution of the third phase. To verify the accuracy of the micromechanical model, the Ti3C2Tx MXene/CFf/epoxy composites were fabricated by the co-blending, layer-by-layer assembly and hot-pressing technology, and the finite element simulation analysis was also performed based on the micromechanical model. The results show that the micromechanical model possesses high accuracy. Specifically, the experimental value of ILSS of the composite with 1 wt% Ti3C2Tx MXene content is 52.12 MPa, and the errors of simulation value (56.64 MPa) and theoretical prediction value (58.69 MPa) are 8.67% and 12.61% MPa, respectively. Besides, the detailed fracture mechanism of the composite is presented based on the fracture morphology and simulation results. It is believed that this work will provide more possibilities for the prediction of the interlaminar shear performance of three-phase composites. Highlights center dot A novel micromechanical model is used to predict the ILSS of three-phase composite. center dot The accuracy of the micromechanical model is verified by simulation and experiment. center dot The main failure form of the Ti3C2Tx MXene/CFf/epoxy composite is matrix broken. center dot The micromechanical model of the three-phase composites has high accuracy.