MECHANICS OF NANOSCALE FIBER NETWORKS AND THEIR COMPOSITES: A THREE-DIMENSIONAL MULTISCALE STOCHASTIC MODELLING STUDY
Abstract
Three-dimensional fiber networks and their composites are commonly observed as bird nests in nature, collagen in biological systems, papers, respiratory face masks filters, water filter cartridges, and air purification meshes, etc. The overall properties and mechanics of fiber networks are governed by the morphological parameters such as fiber length, diameter, orientation, waviness, agglomeration, and inter-fiber interactions. In this study, two different fiber network systems: electro spun silica nanofiber mats (stand-alone networks) and carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced nanocomposites (network-based composites) are considered. Most of the available literature assumes idealized network parameters, perfect interphase, and two-dimensional modelling approaches. In this study, we have proposed a novel computational modelling approach which can incorporate above-mentioned parameters and their stochastic variations towards the construction of a three-dimensional model. The modeling scheme involves molecular dynamics simulation to evaluate component level and interfacial properties, and finite element analysis to obtain network level properties. The stochastic nature of the network has been modeled with a Python-based scheme. Future guidelines to enhance current modelling technique to study the failure properties of these materials are discussed.