Mechanical enhancement of an aluminum layer by graphene coating
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ARTICLE Mechanical enhancement of an aluminum layer by graphene coating Ahmet Semih Erturk, Mesut Kirca,a) and Levent Kirkayakb) Department of Mechanical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34437, Turkey (Received 7 March 2018; accepted 9 July 2018)
In this paper, mechanical characteristics of the aluminum layer coated with graphene are investigated by performing numerical tensile experiments through classical molecular dynamics simulations. Based on the results of the simulations, it is shown that coating with graphene enhances the Young’s modulus of aluminum by 88% while changing the tensile behavior of aluminum with hardening–softening mechanisms and significantly increased toughness. Furthermore, the effect of loading rate is examined and a transformation to an amorphous phase is observed in the coated aluminum structure as the loading rate is increased. Even though the dominant component of the coated hybrid structure is the aluminum core in the elastic region, the graphene layer shows its effects majorly in the plastic region by a 60% increase in the ultimate tensile strength. High loading rates at room temperature cause the structure transforms to an amorphous phase, as expected. Thus, effects of loading rate and temperature on amorphization are investigated by performing the same simulations at different strain rates and temperatures (i.e., 0, 300, and 600 K).
I. INTRODUCTION
As one of the carbon-based nanomaterials with extraordinary properties, graphene has attracted tremendously more attention by researchers since its isolated characterization in 2004 by Novoselov.1 Owing to its chemical bonding characteristics as a carbon allotrope similar to its conjugates such as carbon nanotubes, it has excellent mechanical, thermal,2 and electrical properties.1 For instance, it is branded as the strongest material3 with 1.06 TPa Young’s modulus4 and 130 6 10 GPa tensile strength.5 In addition to many other studies focusing on the chemical, physical, and electrical properties of graphene,6–14 its hybrid applications in combination with other materials are also investigated extensively. Majority of those studies are related to graphene nanocomposites with polymeric matrix constituent. For instance, Kuilla et al.15 presented the improvements in the properties of the graphene composites with different types of polymers. With a different point of view, Cui et al.16 investigated the graphene–polymer composites for gas barrier applications. To enhance the mechanical behavior of glass fiber–polymer composites, Chen et al.17 utilized graphene to reinforce glass fibers. As an additive material, graphene was also examined within the polymer electrolytes to demonstrate effects on the structural, thermal, and electrical characteristics of the electrolytes.18 Apart from Address all correspondence to these authors. a) e-mail: [email protected] b) e-mail: [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2018.261 J. Mater. Res., 2018
all those studies, in recent years, with the purpose of modulating the behavior of metallic ma
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