Effective elastic moduli of composites with a strongly disordered host material

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strongly disordered host materials affect the elastic properties of nanocomposites, revealing a significant interfacial stiffening effect influenced by disorder and heterogeneity scales.

Contribution

It introduces a theory based on correlated random matrices to quantify the interfacial region and its impact on composite stiffness, highlighting the role of disorder in elastic properties.

Findings

Interfacial region exhibits increased stiffness due to disorder.

Thickness of the interfacial region depends on heterogeneity scale.

Interfacial effects significantly influence nanocomposite stiffness.

Abstract

The local elastic properties of strongly disordered host material are investigated using the theory of correlated random matrices. A significant increase in stiffness is shown in the interfacial region, which thickness depends on the strength of disorder. It is shown that this effect plays a crucial role in nanocomposites, in which interfacial regions are formed around each nanoparticle. The studied interfacial effect can significantly increase the influence of nanoparticles on the macroscopic stiffness of nanocomposites. The obtained thickness of the interfacial region is determined by the heterogeneity length scale and is of the same order as the length scale of the boson peak.