Developing a nested micromechanical model to predict the relaxation moduli of graphene nanoplatelets/carbon fiber reinforced hybrid nanocomposites

A nested analytical method, a product of combining two micromechanical models is developed in this study. The proposed micromechanical method predicts the relaxation properties of polymer hybrid nanocomposites containing linearly visco-elastic matrix, transversely isotropic elastic carbon fibers, and graphene nanoplatelets. Calculations performed in this model are of two scales. The small scale, which is the domain of epoxy resin and graphene nanoplatelet interactions, and the large scale, which assumes the small scale as a homogenized isotropic matrix. In the large scale, the prescribed matrix is then reinforced by the unidirectional CFs. Each scale calculation gives the properties of the underlying material. Secant moduli and the field fluctuation techniques are adopted in this study. Resulting explicit formulae allows one to calculate the overall relaxation moduli of the graphene nanoplatelet/carbon fiber-reinforced polymer hybrid nanocomposites. By comparing the data obtained by experiments and the results extracted by the proposed micromechanical approach, the accuracy of the model becomes apparent. Addition of graphene nanoplatelets into the fibrous composites leads to an improvement in the relaxation properties of the hybrid nanocomposites. Also, the elastic properties of graphene nanoplatelet/carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy hybrid nanocomposites are reported. The role of graphene nanoplatelet agglomeration, frequently encountered in real engineering situations, in the mechanical response of unidirectional hybrid nanocomposites is examined. The effects of volume fraction of graphene nanoplatelets and CFs on the overall mechanical properties are investigated.