材料专业文献翻译

材料专业文献翻译

Carbon nanotube composites in aerospace applications Abstract: This paper gives a brief introduction to the recent progress of carbon nanotube (CNT) technologies, including their synthesis and production, molecular structures, unique properties and the potential applications in varied areas. Specifically, the main focus will be on CNT-reinforced polymer composites, and some technical issues and key research achievements in the area of nanotube reinforced composites for aerospace applications are discussed. Although carbon nanotube composites are very promising in aerospace applications, much R&D work for some key technical issues is necessary before the full potential of CNT-reinforced composites can be realized and implemented.

0 Introduction

Composite materials have become one of the most important trends in the development of new materials. A great progress has been made in high performance composites, especially in carbon fiber reinforced plastics(CFRP). Composite structural parts mainly made of carbon fibers and epoxy resins take a larger and larger share in the aerospace structures. In the recently launched B787 Dreamliner, CFRP parts constitute 50% of the total structural weight, including such primary structures as fuselage, wing and horizontal stabilizer; in the air giant A380 airplane, CFRP parts constitute 25% of the total structural weight. In aerospace applications, the structural materials of light weight and high strength are the everlasting goals, and carbon nanotube reinforced polymer composites become very attractive as a kind of new generation materials.

Since their first study carried out nearly 20 years ago by Iijima, much research work has been done for carbon nanotubes and their applications. The remarkable physical and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes have been extensively reported, from unique electronic properties, high thermal conductivity to superior mechanical properties where the stiffness, strength and resilience are better than any current materials. Carbon nanotubes offer tremendous opportunities for the development of fundamentally new materials systems. In particular, the nano-composites reinforced with carbon tubes can offer extraordinary specific stiffness and strength, and are very promising for aerospace applications in the 21st century. In this paper, a concise review is made for carbon nanotubes, including the basic molecular structures, unique properties, potential applications, as well as the recent advances in carbon nanotubes composites, and some special technical issues for carbon nanotubes reinforced polymer composites for aerospace applications.

1 What are carbon nanotubes (CNTs)?

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are members of the fullerene structural family, as a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, with a diameter of the nanometer scale, typically ranging from less than 1 nm up to 50 nm. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about one ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair. Now nanotubes can be constructed with a very large ratio of length-to-diameter up to 132 000 000:1, significantly larger than any other material at present. That is, the