Prediction and optimization of electrical conductivity for polymer-based composites using design of experiment and artificial neural networks

In this paper, conductive polymer-based composites in order to have higher electrical conductivity have been constructed using different nanoparticles and numerically considered by different classification techniques. Due to non-conducting feature of polymer-based composites, their other positive advantages (e.g., light weight and stress corrosion) underneath non-conducting defect in which this paper has tried to overcome the faced challenges. For this purpose, carbon black (CB), carbon nanotube (CNT), and expanded graphite (EG) with different weight percentages are added to the epoxy resin as input factors and the electrical conductivity of the samples are measured as response factor. The analysis of input factors is performed and the Taguchi method, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and extreme learning machine (ELM) are designed and used for the prediction of the response factor. The predicted responses using the applied methods are compared with the experimental results. In order to increase the mechanical strength, ten layers of unidirectional carbon fiber are used. The simulation results show that the ANNs and ELM provide good compatible predictions with respect to actual experiment data. Besides, obtained experimental results prove that the highest electrical conductivity has been achieved using 10, 15, and 25 percent using the CNT, EG, and CB, respectively. As a novelty of this paper, the constructed sample composite reaches the acceptable electrical conductivity suggested by United Stated Department of Energy standard considered as material development. In particular, the findings of this research can be used to construct conductive electrodes particularly in oil and gas industries.