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Modeling and simulation techniques for polymer nanoparticle composites – A review

2016; Elsevier BV; Volume: 118; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.commatsci.2016.02.025

1879-0801

Luís Filipe Almeida Bernardo, Ana M. Amaro, Deesy G. Pinto, Sérgio M.R. Lopes,

Composite Material Mechanics

The present review article aims at summarizing some recent advances in modeling polymer nanoparticle composites (PNCs) reinforced with nanoparticles (NPs), having different sizes and shapes. They are added to a polymer matrix (PM) following a given selected fraction (e.g., in terms of volume fraction (VF)). In order to gain a deeper insight to model the mechanical properties of PNCs, the research teams have been modifying the existing micromechanics models (i.e. for two-phased PNCs) and finite element analysis (FEA) for microscale to nanoscale is being used. As a result, new formulations have been incorporated into commercial software packages to predict some properties of PNCs (e.g., elastic properties). Most recently, the modification of these models to three-phased PNCs has also been discussed. Some of the few studies already published on this subject show some difficulty for accurately modeling the interfacial region (IR), also known as interphase, between the matrix and the NPs in the PNCs. However, such studies also show that it is possible to capture some aspects of the real behavior of the PNCs (e.g., tensile modulus). Much more research is needed, so this review article also aims at stimulating further research on this subject.