In this work, numerical and analytical models are chosen to study reinforcement effect of nanolayered silicate modified polyamide 6 (PA 6) composites at ambient temperature. A numerical self-consistent unit cell model in conjunction with finite element method is applied to predict the stiffness of this polymer nanocomposite, which has been successfully applied for simulating mechanical behavior of metal matrix composites. In this work, a rectangular inclusion (layered silicate) is surrounded by PA 6 polymer matrix, which is again embedded in the PA 6/layered silicate nanocomposite. The stiffness of the composite is determined iteratively in a self-consistent manner. For comparison, two analytical composite models (HalpinTsai model and TangdonWeng model) are implemented to evaluate the stiffness of this nanocomposite via calculations performed within MATLAB. In the modeling volume fraction, aspect ratio, exfoliation and orientation of the nanolayered silicate are taken into account. It is demonstrated that the numerical approach using the self-consistent embedded cell model coincides well with experimental results of the stiffness of the composite. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012