Effective properties for plain weave composites through-thickness reinforced with carbon nanotube forests

In this paper, an analytical approach is proposed to study the elastic properties of plain weave unit cells with reinforcing single-walled carbon nanotube forests of different growing patterns on the warp and weft carbon yarns. For the carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer matrix in which the carbon fibers are embedded, its properties can be evaluated using a modified rule of mixture. A numerical study using the present analytical approach reveals that for the cases considered, only a small increase in the nanotube volume fraction can result in a remarkable increase in the out-of-plane Young’s modulus and a slight increase in the out-of-plane shear modulus but a decrease in the out-of-plane Poisson’s ratios for the plain weave composite. The existence of carbon nanotube forests does not significantly affect the effective in-plane properties of plain weave composites. It is also noted from the present numerical study that the effective properties of plain weave composites with nanotube forest reinforcement are closely related to the nanotube volume fraction, growing or distribution patterns, but slightly affected by the orientations of carbon nanotubes.