A Novel Method to Decrease Micro-residual Stresses of Fibrous Composites by Adding Carbon Nanotube

In this research, a novel method to decrease micro-residual stresses of fibrous composites by adding carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is proposed in detail. The negative coefficient of thermal expansion and the high young’s modulus of CNTs can be utilized to counterbalance the process induced residual stresses in composites. To this end, first, the effects of adding CNTs to the matrix of fibrous composites in reducing the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and increasing of young’s modulus of matrix are studied theoretically. Then, a three phase micromechanical model (the energy method) is used to model the effect of CNT in reducing the residual stresses of fibrous composites. The results show that by addition of CNTs, enhancements in properties of matrix are obtained and lead to decrease in micro-residual stresses of matrix and fiber up to 72%.