Deformation Behavior of multi-spherulitic nylon6/silica nanocomposites

TL;DR

This paper investigates the deformation behavior of nylon6/silica nanocomposites using multiscale modeling, revealing how nanoparticles influence mechanical properties and highlighting the limited impact of spherical nanoparticles.

Contribution

It introduces a multiscale computational approach combining bounds prediction and FEM modeling to analyze nanoparticle effects in multi-spherulitic nylon6 structures.

Findings

Spherical nanoparticles offer limited mechanical enhancement.

FEM simulations reveal anisotropic deformation responses.

Elastic bounds are effectively predicted using Voigt and Reuss models.

Abstract

In this study, the deformation of nylon6/silica nanocomposite is investigated by employing a multiscale computational approach to understand the influence of nanoparticles. Initially, the upper and lower bounds for the elastic properties of a combination of crystalline and amorphous lamella are predicted via Voigt and Reuss model. Subsequently, these results are used in an FEM model for RVEs representing the multi-spherulitic structure of nylon6 and a silica/nylon6 nanocomposite. Each spherulite in these models has directional mechanical properties defined by spherical coordinates. Simulation of deformation applied in orthogonal directions and the mechanical response of the pure polymer and nanocomposite are examined. The results show that spherical nanoparticles have a smaller potential for enhancement of mechanical response compared to nanoparticles of other shapes.