Elasto-plastic behavior of graphene reinforced nanocomposites with hard/soft interface effects

Interface effects play an important role in the overall mechanical properties of graphene reinforced nanocomposites. This work concerns an investigation of the influence of hard/soft interface effects on the macroscopic elastoplastic behavior of graphene reinforced nanocomposites. The theoretical framework is developed based on the interphase model, the second-order stress moment and the field fluctuation method. To demonstrate the validity of the present approach, comparative analyses against experimental data are presented, followed by detailed parametric analyses to expose the effects of the major micromechanical variables on the macroscopic elastoplastic behavior of graphene-nanocomposites. The micromechanical variables include volume fraction, thickness and stiffness of hard/soft interphase, as well as geometrical size factor and aspect ratio of graphene nanosheets. ? 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

The study investigates the influence of hard/soft interface effects on the macroscopic elastoplastic behavior of graphene reinforced nanocomposites. Theoretical framework, comparative analyses against experimental data, and detailed parametric analyses are used to expose the effects of major micromechanical variables.