Compressibility of a carbon nanotubes “forest” is evaluated using a theory of compression of fibrous assemblies. The latter accounts for bending resistance of the nanotubes, their random orientation and multiple contacts between the nanotubes in the “forest”. The compression diagram is used for estimation of the pressure needed to achieve a given fibre volume fraction in a composite, reinforced with carbon fibres with a nanotube forest on their surface.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, fibre reinforced composites, compressibility