Vibration Damping Mechanism of Fiber-Reinforced Composites with Integrated Piezoelectric Nanowires.

Here, both piezoelectric and nonpiezoelectric nanostructures are used within fiber-reinforced composites to improve the damping capabilities of the host material. This work investigates and isolates the role of both piezoelectricity and the mechanical redistribution of strain on the damping properties of fiber-reinforced composites through the integration of a nanowire interphase between the fiber and matrix. Prior works have successfully studied and reported the effectiveness of modifying the surface of the reinforcing fibers in a composite material using nanowires and other nanostructured interfaces to increase mechanical damping, however, have yet to fully investigate the mechanism dictating the observed behavior.