Micromechanical modelling of the yield stress of polymer-particulate nanocomposites with an inhomogeneous interphase

In this work, a micromechanical model is proposed in order to predict the yield stress of polymer-based nanocomposites filled with spherical nanoparticles. The adopted approach integrates an inhomogeneous interphase around the nanoparticles. A characteristic length scale corresponding to the thickness of the interphase allows accounting for the particle size effects. The key role of particle size and features of inhomogeneous interphase on the overall initial yield surface of nanocomposites is theoretically studied.