Pullout of rough multiwall carbon nanotubes: A parametric study

A finite element study of MWCNT pullout from a ceramic matrix with a rough fibre–matrix interface is presented. MWCNT pullout differs in several ways from pullout of solid, micro-scale fibres, and has not been studied before. Interfacial roughness, due to missing CNT walls and other fabrication defects, is represented as an axisymmetric sinusoidal fibre–matrix interface with Coulomb friction. We find roughness resists pullout and aids push-out...