The addition of carbon nanotubes (CNT) to a polymeric matrix is known to affect its mechanical and electrical properties. The changes can be significant even at small volume fractions of the reinforcement. The CNT concentration, aspect ratio, and dispersion are expected to affect the material electric response. However, the precise mechanisms responsible for the described effects are not sufficiently understood.
It is presented a numerical model to solve the problem of the electric response in polymeric composites. The developed model, based in the Graph Theory framework, enables the macroscopic electric properties characterization, such as the dielectric constant and dielectric strength. Finally, the theoretical details and a comparison with experimental results are discussed. |