Studying the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Polymer Nanocomposites Reinforced with Montmorillonite Nanoparticles Using Micromechanics Method

In this study, the mechanical and thermal behavior of the nano-reinforced polymer composite reinforced by Montmorillonite (MMT) nanoparticles is investigated. Due to low cost of computations, the 3D representative volume elements (RVE) method is utilized using ABAQUS finite element commercial software. Low density poly ethylene (LDPE) and MMT are used as matrix and nanoparticle material, respectively. By using various geometric shapes and weight fractions of nanoparticle, the mechanical and thermal properties such as Young’s modulus, shear modulus, heat expansion coefficient and heat transfer coefficient are studied. Due to addressing the properties of interfacial zone between the matrix and nanoparticle, finite element modeling is conducted in two ways, namely, perfect bonding and cohesive zone. The results are validated by comparing with experimental results reported in literature and a reasonable agreement was observed. The prediction function for Young’s modulus is presented by employing Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. Also, Kerner and Paul approaches as theoretical models are used to calculate the Young’s modulus. It was finally concluded that the magnitude of the Young’s and shear modules increase by adding MMT nanoparticles. Furthermore, increment of MMT nanoparticles to polymer matrix nanocomposite decrease the heat expansion and heat transfer coefficients.