Experimental and mechanical analysis of cement–nanotube nanocomposites

Abstract

Composites of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and cement layers were manufactured by grinding carbon nanotubes and cement powder in a planetary ball mill. Tiny cement nanoparticles were fabricated using an ethylene-glycol-assisted synthesis procedure with successive hydrolysis and condensation reactions. Cement–nanotube nanocomposites were then produced by adding functionalized nanotube powder to the colloidal cement nanoparticles suspended in ethylene glycol (weight ratio of nanotubes to cement = 1:1). Modal analysis of five-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites with 1–5 cement layers was performed via the finite-element method. The five-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites with different shapes were modelled using three-dimensional elastic beams of carbon bonds, nodal carbon point masses and cement layer shell elements. The natural frequency, von Mises stress and strain energy of the elements were calculated by considering the Van der Waals forces between the carbon atoms in the hexagonal lattice. In the modal analysis, the greatest variation in displacement was observed along the x-axis, and the maximum values of the total displacement appeared to be larger at the cement layers than at the MWCNTs. The cement–nanotube nanocomposites exhibited a gradual decrease in deformation and vibration as the number of cement layers was increased.