A static behaviour of carbon-CNT-metal composite laminate: Role of interphase and waviness via micromechanics

In this study, multiscale micromechanics-assisted finite element modelling (FEM) approach is utilised to investigate the influence of interphase properties and carbon nanotube (CNT) waviness on the static behaviour of CNT-grown carbon fibre-reinforced metal matrix (CGCMM) symmetric cross-ply hybrid composite laminates. A three-step approach is used to analyse the static behaviour. First, the elastic properties of a CNT-coated layer (CCL) surrounding carbon microfibers are predicted employing an extended Halpin-Tsai analytical model that incorporates the CNT/metal matrix interphase and CNT waviness. Next, the effective elastic properties of the CGCMM hybrid laminated composite are estimated using three-dimensional representative volume element (3D-RVE) modelling based on the mechanics of materials (MOM) approach. Finally, the effective properties calculated at the mesoscale are applied to examine the macroscopic static properties of cross-ply CGCMM hybrid composite laminated plates under various loading and boundary conditions through FEM. This analysis assesses the overall mechanical performance of the composites and provides insights into how different configurations and constraints influence their behaviour. A detailed bending analysis highlights how CNT waviness and the CNT/metal matrix interphase affect the laminate’s static behaviour. Additionally, this study compares both the micromechanical analytical model and FEM methods from existing literature to validate the accuracy of the multiscale modelling and FEM formulation. The numerical examples evaluate the effectiveness of the FEM approach in analysing the bending behaviour of different laminate configurations and explore the effects of non-dimensional coordinate (x/a), edge-to-thickness ratio (a/h), and CNT volume fraction on cross-ply hybrid laminated composite plates.