Interfacial stress transfer and property mismatch in discontinuous nanofiber/nanotube composite materials

Novel nanotubes/nanofibers with high strength and stiffness did not lead to high failure strengths/strains of nanocomposite materials. Therefore, the interfacial stress transfer and possible stress singularities, arising at the interfacial ends of discontinuous nanofibers embedded in a matrix, subjected to tensile and shear loading, were investigated by finite element analysis. The effects of Young's moduli and volume fractions on interfacial stress distributions were studied. Round-ended nanofibers were proposed to remove the interfacial singular stresses, which were caused by high stiffness mismatch of the nanoscale reinforcement and the matrix. However, the normal stress induced in the nanofiber through interfacial stress transfer was still less than 2 times that in the matrix. This stress value is far below the high strength of the nanofiber. Therefore, the load transfer efficiency of discontinuous nanofibers or nanotube composites is very low. Hence, nanofibers or nanotubes in continuous forms, which also preclude the formation of singular interfacial stress zones, are recommended over discontinuous nanofibers to achieve high strengths in nanocomposite materials.