About this talk
With the emergence of nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene it is now possible to design composite materials down to the nano-scale. The hierarchical design is a way to engineer light structural materials with high stiffness, strength and toughness. The importance of nanoscale features has been long recognized from studies of hard biological materials that show exemplary resilience to failure combined with optimal stiffness for structural support. In man-made composites the nanostructure integration can be done through modifications of the matrix, interfaces and fibers. Such composites are known in the field as hierarchical or nano-engineered composites. The current talk describes research developments in the Composite Materials Group at KULeuven, focusing on the mechanical performance and processing of polymer-based composites modified with carbon nanotubes. It reviews both earlier works, which were experimentally driven, and current research, which largely relies on modelling insights. The two scale models developed in the group provide opportunities to investigate a large number of parameters and to simulate scenarios that are not yet possible to realize experimentally.