Strength and damage of nanoplatelets reinforced polymer: A 3D finite element modeling and simulation

The microstructure of composite plays a critical role in its mechanical performance. In present work, a series of finite element models are developed to simulate the strength and damage evolution of nanoplatelets reinforced polymer. In order to overcome the mesh issue that occurs in many works due to the extreme high aspect ratios of the nanoplatelets, a novel strategy is proposed to add membrane/shell elements representing nanofillers in a representative volume element. In addition, interfacial debonding can also be simulated within this framework. Furthermore, a modified phase-field method is proposed to model brittle fracture in the polymer matrix. Numerical results show that a quite low volume of nanoplatelets can improve the macroscopic Young's modulus and strength of nanocomposites simultaneously. Interfacial debonding would affect both strength and toughness properties of nanoplatelets reinforced polymer through changing the morphology of cracks. The new modeling strategy in the present work can improve both efficiency and accuracy of finite element modeling nanoplatelets, especially with extremely high aspect ratio reinforced polymers.