Carbon nanotube damping for composite aerospace structures: A new paradigm

Engineering structures possessing high levels of damping capability are critically important in a variety of aerospace, mechanical, and civil systems. Aerospace structures are often excited under acoustic vibration and exhibit very high amplitude displacements and thus premature failure. Material with high damping or absorbing properties would be essential to prolong structural life. Conventional damping treatments are based on combinations of viscoelastic, elastomeric, magnetic and/or piezoelectric materials. Although these conventional techniques show promise for energy dissipation, structural integrity issues associated with integration into heterogeneous systems are major technical challenges. Other challenges include weight, compactness, and power limitations as well as damper reliability. Recently, considerable attention has been given to carbon nanotube fillered polymer composites in order to overcome technical barriers, since such a nanocomposite system can have benefits of light-weight, minimal intrusiveness, robust damping and seamless integration to the heterogeneous structures. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to discuss development of new, innovative ways of introducing damping in composite aerospace structures using carbon nanotubes. A review of recent advances made in damping technology with the nanotubes will be presented.