Micromechanical analysis of long fiber-reinforced composites with nanoparticle incorporation into the interphase region

The influence of the distribution type, Young's modulus, and volume fraction of the nanoparticles within the interphase region on the mechanical behavior of long fiber-reinforced composites with epoxy resin matrix under transverse tensile loading is investigated in this article. An infinite material containing unidirectional long fiber and periodic distribution of elastic, spherical nanoparticles was modeled using a unit cell approach. A stiffness degradation technique has been used to simulate the damage and crack progress of the matrix subjected to mechanical loading. A series of computational experiments performed to study the influence of the nanoparticle indicate that the mechanical properties, nanoparticle-fiber distance, and volume fraction of nanoparticle have a significant effect on both the stiffness and strength properties of these composite materials. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41573.