Sharif Digital Repository

Crashworthiness, energy absorption capacity, and safety are important factors in the design of lightweight vehicles made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRP) components. The relatively recent emergence of the nanotechnology industry has presented a novel means to augment the mechanical properties of various materials. As a result, recent attempts have contemplated the use of nanoparticles to further improve the resiliency of resins, especially when resins are used for mating FRP components. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the response of nanoreinforced polymer composites, subjected to various rates of loading, is of paramount importance for developing reliable structures.... 

Ammonium polyphosphate (APP) is one of the most widely used halogen-free flame retardant, added in various resins to improve the fire properties, such as flame and smoke spread ratings and LOI, of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. This paper experimentally investigates the effects of using APP, as a fire-retardant filler, on mechanical properties (i.e. ultimate tensile, flexural, and bond strength) of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Based on two fiber types (i.e. carbon and glass) and three different APP mass fractions in resin (i.e. 0, 20, and 40% of total weight of matrix), six sets of specimens were prepared for each... 

During the drilling operation in high-permeability, natural and artificial fractured formations, the lost circulation of drilling mud is a common problem. Various methods have been applied to control lost circulation and among these methods, using Lost Circulation Materials (LCM) is the most common method that blocks the fluid loss channels in the formation by creating structures. In this project, the aim is to develop and use natural fiber-reinforced composites as LCM can be an innovative and technical solution. Natural fiber-reinforced composites have excellent properties such as high specific strength, non-abrasive, eco-friendly, and biodegradability. It seems to be possible that... 

CNT-reinforced polymer composites have attracted attention due to their exceptional high strength. The high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in the practical nanocomposites. In this paper, a Molecular Structural Mechanics / Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling is used to study the effect of carbon nanotube geometrical defects on the stability of SWCNT-polymer composites. Here, two types of representative volume elements (RVEs) for these nanocomposites are considered with perfect and defected CNT. These RVEs have the same dimensions. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using molecular structural mechanics whereas the... 

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the behavior of concrete cylinders externally wrapped with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and internally reinforced with steel spirals. The experimental work was performed by testing 30 concrete cylinders (120 × 400mm2) subjected to pure compression to achieve the complete stress-strain curve. Test specimens were confined with various internal and external confinement ratios and different types of confining material such as steel, Carbon FRP (CFRP) and Glass FRP (GFRP). The compressive strength, corresponding strain and the complete stress-strain curve of the tested specimenswere indicated. The test results showthat the... 

In this article, a Molecular Structural Mechanics/Finite Element (MSM/FE) multiscale modeling of carbon nanotube/polymer composites with viscoelastic (VE) polymer matrix is introduced. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using structural molecular mechanics. The matrix deformation is analyzed by nonlinear finite element method considering VE behavior. The nanotube and matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions based on the Lennard-Jones potential at the interface. Using the MSM/FE multiscale model, we investigate the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) on the improvement of mechanical stability of the nanocomposite. Also, the buckling behavior of these... 

This paper aims at investigating the seismic behavior of strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls using a 3D finite element analysis. A series of four different configurations of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites and four different schemes of steel elements are utilized to compare the two methods of retrofitting RC shear walls with similar dimensions and reinforcement ratios. Nonlinear simulations of the RC shear walls are conducted under the action of lateral cyclic loading in ABAQUS Explicit software. In addition, the numerical modeling for RC walls strengthened by CFRP composites as well as steel elements are validated according to the previous experimental... 

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced polymer composites have attracted great attention due to their exceptionally high strength. Their high strength can be affected by the presence of defects in the nanotubes used as reinforcements in practical nanocomposites. In this article, a new three-phase molecular structural mechanics/finite element (MSM/FE) multiscale model is used to study the effect of CNT vacancy defects on the stability of single-wall (SW) CNT-polymer composites. The nanotube is modeled at the atomistic scale using MSM, whereas the interphase layer and polymer matrix are analyzed by the FE method. The nanotube and polymer matrix are assumed to be bonded by van der Waals interactions... 

A finite element-based hierarchical multiscale modeling scheme is presented and used for the analysis of nanotube-reinforced polymer composites. The scheme presented here consists of micro- and macroscale boundary value problems linked together using a computational homogenization scheme. Using the presented hierarchical multiscale scheme, we have studied nanotube-reinforced polymer composites, and the elastic properties are determined. Using different representative volume elements (RVEs) representing different volume fractions of aligned nanotubes, the effect of the nanotube volume fraction and the existence of an interphase layer on the effective elastic modulus of the nanocomposite are...