Journal of Nanomaterials
Volume 2016 (2016), Article ID 9481053, 1 page
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9481053

Editorial

Advances in Characterization and Modeling of Nanoreinforced Composites

Roham Rafiee,¹ Timon Rabczuk,² Abbas S. Milani,³ and Konstantinos I. Tserpes⁴

¹Composites Research Laboratory, Faculty of New Sciences & Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14399 57131, Iran
²Institute of Structural Mechanics, Bauhaus University, Weimar, Marienstraße 15, 99423 Weimar, Germany
³Composites Research Network-Okanagan Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, Canada V1V 1V7
⁴Laboratory of Technology & Strength of Materials, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece

Received 22 February 2016; Accepted 22 February 2016

Copyright © 2016 Roham Rafiee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Exceptional mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of nanoreinforced materials as well as their low density and high aspect ratios have now rendered them among desired reinforcing agents in a wide range of composites in high tech applications. The experimental measurement of nanoreinforced material properties, however, is still a challenging and tedious task. Extremely scattered data obtained through experimental observations, which often originated from different processing limitations, have led many researchers to pursue also analytical studies on the effective properties of nanoreinforcements and their corresponding composites. Consequently, next to experimental investigations, simulation and modeling techniques currently play a significant role in characterizing nanocomposites properties and understanding their mechanical behavior via atomistic modeling, continuum mechanics-based approach, and multiscale modeling techniques, among others.

Characterization of nanocomposites is often aimed at gaining knowledge on their global response, such as the macrodisplacement and stress fields at boundaries of a representative volume element. The continuum mechanics approaches are known to be adequate and sufficient for modeling nanocomposites within this scope. However, for more elaborated and in-depth analyses, the multiscale modeling techniques may be considered where the molecular dynamics and continuum mechanics models are integrated in a virtual computing environment. This approach would be detailed enough to account for the material physics at nanoscale, while efficient enough to handle the field variables of interest at larger length scales.

This special issue deals with a range of recently developed characterization and modeling techniques employed to better understand and predict the response of nanoreinforced composites at different scales.

Acknowledgments

The guest editors would like to take this opportunity to express their sincere appreciations for the great work and contributions of all authors. They are also grateful to referees of the journal for their valuable time and constructive feedback during the review process of this special issue.

Roham Rafiee
Timon Rabczuk
Abbas S. Milani
Konstantinos I. Tserpes