Mechanics and Multiscale Modelling of fuzzy Fiber

Reinforced Polymer Composites

An annual report submitted to
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
in completion of first year for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy
by

Subhashis Sit
14ME91R08

Under the supervision of

Dr. Goutam Chakraborty

Department of Mechanical Engineering

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR

Kharagpur-721302
July 17, 2015

Contents
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ii
ii

1 Introduction
1.1 Multifunctional Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 Fuzzy Fiber Reinforced Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3 Multiscale Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1
1
2
2

2 Work Done and Plan of Future Work

2.1 Work Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Plan of Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3
3
3

References

List of Figures
1.1

Recent English Language referred journal publications related to multifunctional materials ans structures Gibson [2010] . . . . . . . . . . . . .

List of Tables
2.1

Details of course work done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ii

Chapter 1
Introduction
From the last quarter of twentieth century composite materials have gained immense
importance in various applications where weight saving is a primary objective. So the
mechanics of composite materials is very much important to understand. Multifunctional
composite materials are in high demand in different applications such as in aerospace,
automobiles industry, railways, oil and gas transport, biomedical etc. Today along
with structural functions different non structural properties from the same structure are
wanted. Different structural properties includes mechanical properties like strength, stiffness, fracture toughness, and damping, while non-structural functions include electrical
and/or thermal conductivity, sensing and actuation, energy harvesting/storage, self healing capability, electromagnetic interference shielding, recyclability and biodegradibility.
The increasing interest in multifunctional material can be seen from the following figure
showing number of publications dealing with the mechanics of materials and structure.

Figure 1.1: Recent English Language referred journal publications related to multifunctional materials ans structures Gibson [2010]

1.1

Multifunctional Materials

Previously there was a distinct difference between load-bearing materials and structures
and other materials and structures which have non-structural properties, as the traditional approach was to use them separately. But there is an increasing demand of such
materials which have the structural and non-structural properties. Thus the materials
1

which possess mechanical, electrical and thermal properties altogether are called multifunctional materials. These materials are generally composite materials with reinforced
fibers are reinforcements and polymer matrix as substrates with carbon nanotubes as
nanoscale reinforcements. As we know traditional fiber-reinforced composite materials
have good structural properties but poor thermal conductivity to be used in aerospace
applications as polymer matrix is not good conductivity. We can improve its conductivity
by using carbon nanotubes. Thus it will be conductive and it would not be damaged by
lightning anymore. So there is a great opportunity to do research in multifunctional materials which are largely used in aerospace, defense, energy and semiconductor industries.

1.2

Fuzzy Fiber Reinforced Composites

Composites are made up of individual materials referred to as constituent materials.

There are two categories of constituent materials: matrix and reinforcement. At least
one portion of each type is required. The matrix material surrounds and supports the
reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. A synergism produces
material properties unavailable from the individual constituent materials, while the wide
variety of matrix and strengthening materials allows the designer of the product or structure to choose an optimum combination.
Fiber-reinforced composite materials consist of fiber of high strength bonded to a
matrix with distinct interfaces between them and retain their physical and chemical
identities, yet they produce a combination of properties that cannot be achieved with
either of the constituent acting alone.
There is a lot of research is going on fuzzy fiber reinforced composites. When carbon
nanotubes are embedded radially on the reinforced fiber, it gives better out of plane mechanical properties along with good thermal and electrical conductivities. This kind of
arrangement of carbon fibers on reinforced fibers are called fuzzy fiber. The traditional
fiber reinforced composites give good mechanical properties in the longtitudinal direction.
But the out of plane properties are very poor. In order to improve the out of plane or
transverse properties of the composite, researchers have thought a lot and come to the
invention of fuzzy fiber reinforced composites.

1.3

Multiscale Modeling

Multiscale modeling is used in different fields such as in engineering, mathematics, physics,

meteorology etc. Different levels of multiscale modeling are as follows: Level of quantum model(Electron level), Level of molecular dynamics level(Individual atom), Level
of nanoscale model(Group of atoms), Level of microscale model, Level of macroscale or
continuum model, Level of whole structure.
These different scales are modeled to describe the system characteristics. The need for
multiscale modeling is that the macroscale model is accurate enough and the microscale
model is not efficient enough. But if these are combined then approximately accurate
information of the structure can be obtained.
There are increasing use of multiscale hybrid composites where matrix is in macroscale,
reinforced fiber are in microscale and nano-reinforcements such as carbon fibers are in
nanoscale. In order to determine the material properties of the whole structure it is
needed to apply multiscale modeling of its constituent phases.
2

Chapter 2
Work Done and Plan of Future Work
2.1

Work Done

All the requisite courses have been completed with following grades.
Subject No.

Subject Name

Type

Credit

Session

Grade/Remarks

HS63002

English for Technical Writing

Compulsory Course

2014-2015-Autumn

HS51637

Society, Science and Technology

Interdisciplinary Course

2014-2015-Spring

ME60401

Applied Elasticity

Recommended Course

2014-2015-Autumn

ME60413

Continuum Mechanics

Recommended Course

2014-2015-Autumn

ME60408

Mechanics of Composite

Recommend Course

2014-2015-Spring

Table 2.1: Details of course work done

2.2

Plan of Future Work

Currently I am preparing for Comprehensive Examination. After that I have planned to

the literature review on mechanics and multiscale modeling of fuzzy fiber reinforced composites. I wist to study the inetrlaminar and intralaminar properties, fracture strength
and damping characteristics under different loading conditions by multiscale modeling of
those fuzzy fiber reinforced composites. I would also like to do some experimental work
on those to validate my results.

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