Cryogenic Tensile Strength and Fatigue Life of Carbon Nanotube Multi-Yarn

Carbon nanotube (CNT) multi-yarns, consisting of 30 yarns, were tested under monotonic tensile load and fatigue at the room temperature (298 K) and two cryogenic temperatures (232 and 123 K). Tensile stiffness increased with the decrease of temperature. The average ultimate tensile strength was higher at 123 K when compared to the higher temperatures (232 and 298 K). Failure mechanism changed from a combination of classical variant and independent fiber breakage at the two higher temperatures to mostly classical variant failure mechanism at the lower temperature. The CNT-yarn's fatigue life also increased with decreasing temperature. CNT-yarns have been shown to function well at lower temperatures making them usable for applications requiring operation at cryogenic temperatures, such as in satellites and high altitude aircraft.