The elastic response of a novel short fuzzy fiber-reinforced composite (SFFRC) has
recently been investigated by the authors (Mech. Mater. 53 (2012), 47–60). The
distinctive feature of the construction of this novel SFFRC is that straight carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) are radially grown on the circumferential surfaces of unidirectional
short carbon fiber reinforcements. The waviness of CNTs is intrinsic to many
manufacturing processes and plays an important role in the thermomechanical
behavior of CNT-reinforced composites. However, the effect of the waviness of
CNTs on the thermoelastic response of a SFFRC has yet to be investigated.
Therefore, we investigate the effect of wavy CNTs on the thermoelastic properties
of this SFFRC, revealing that the axial thermoelastic coefficients of the
SFFRC significantly increase when the wavy CNTs are coplanar with the
longitudinal plane of the carbon fibers for higher values of the waviness
factor and wave frequency of the CNTs. The effective values of the thermal
expansion coefficients of this SFFRC are also found to be sensitive to change in
temperature.
Keywords
short fuzzy fiber composite, wavy CNTs, micromechanics,
thermoelastic coefficients
