Young’s Modulus Enhancement and Measurement in CNT/Al Nanocomposites

doi:10.1007/s40195-018-0730-8

Abstract

Abstract:

Young’s modulus is a critical parameter for designing lightweight structure, but Al and its alloys only demonstrate a limited value of 70-72 GPa. The introduction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is an effective way to make Al and its alloys stiffer. However, little research attention has been paid to Young’s modulus of CNT/Al nanocomposites attributed to the uncertain measurement and unconvincing stiffening effect of CNTs. In this work, improved Young’s modulus of 82.4?±?0.4 GPa has been achieved in 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite fabricated by flake powder metallurgy, which was determined by resonance test and 13.5% higher than 72.6?±?0.64 GPa of Al matrix. A comparative study and statistical analysis further revealed that Young’s modulus determined by tensile test was relatively imprecise (83.1?±?4.0 GPa) due to the low-stress microplasticity or interface decohesion during tensile deformation of CNT/Al nanocomposite, while the value (98-100 GPa) was highly overestimated by nanoindentation due to the “pile-up” effect. This work shows an in-depth discussion on studying Young’s modulus of CNT/Al nanocomposites.

Key words: CNT/Al nanocomposites, Young’s modulus, Stiffening, Resonance test

Zi-Yun Yu, Zhan-Qiu Tan, Gen-Lian Fan, Ren-Bang Lin, Ding-Bang Xiong, Qiang Guo, Yi-Shi Su, Zhi-Qiang Li, Di Zhang. Young’s Modulus Enhancement and Measurement in CNT/Al Nanocomposites[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2018, 31(11): 1121-1129.

Figures/Tables 8

Fig. 1 Young’s modulus measured by a tensile test, b nanoindentation from previous studies of CNT/Al nanocomposites

Fig. 2 SEM images of a flaky CNT/Al composite powders, b well dispersed CNTs on Al flakes. c Optical image of extruded nanocomposite. d Raman spectrum of raw CNTs and extruded nanocomposite. e HRTEM image of CNT/Al interface

Fig. 3 a Engineering stress-strain curves of 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite samples; b Young’s modulus measured within different elastic ranges (from preload of 10 MPa to different proportional limits of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 MPa)

Table 1 Young’s modulus of 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite samples measured by quasi-static tensile test within different elastic ranges (from preload of 10 MPa to different proportional limits)

Sample no.	Young&#x02019;s modulus (GPa) measured with different proportional limits
Sample no.	50 MPa	100 MPa	150 MPa	200 MPa	250 MPa	300 MPa
1	65.2	80.1	83.2	85.9	82.1	76.2
2	76.1	78.9	77.0	74.7	72.0	68.8
3	83.8	83.5	82.1	80.1	77.4	74.1
4	84.4	85.5	83.7	80.0	75.7	71.5
5	88.3	95.5	89.4	89.5	84.6	78.2
Avg.	79.6	84.7	83.1	82.0	78.4	73.8
SD	8.2	5.9	4.0	5.1	4.5	3.3

Fig. 4 a Load-displacement curves obtained by static nanoindentations, b Young’s modulus-depth curves obtained by CSM nanoindentations of 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite samples. The inset SEM images show the morphology of indentions

Table 2 Young’s modulus of 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite samples measured by static and CSM nanoindentations

Method	Young&#x02019;s modulus (GPa)
	Spot 1	Spot 2	Spot 3	Spot 4	Spot 5	Avg.	SD
Static	99.4	100.3	101.1	101.6	100.8	100.6	0.7
CSM	98.1	98.3	98.0	98.0	97.5	98.0	0.3

Table 3 Geometrical information, flexural vibration resonance frequency, and Young’s modulus of 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite samples measured by resonance test

Specimen no.	Length (mm)	Mass (g)	Diameter (mm)	\(f_{\text{f}}\) (kHz)	Young&#x02019;s modulus (GPa)
1	60.01	4.63	5.99	7.90	81.9
2	59.98	4.61	5.97	7.94	83.0
3	59.99	4.65	6.01	7.97	82.5
4	60.05	4.55	5.94	7.83	82.0
5	60.23	4.71	6.05	8.00	82.6
Avg.	-	-	-	-	82.4
SD	-	-	-	-	0.4

Fig. 5 a Standard errors, b standard deviations, c fitted normal distribution of experimental Young’s modulus measured by tensile test, nanoindentation and resonance test in 1.5 wt% CNT/Al nanocomposite

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