Critical Buckling Load of Chiral Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Embedded in an Elastic Medium

Abstract

In order to determine the nonlocal critical buckling loads of chiral double-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in an elastic medium, the nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory is implemented. The solution for the nonlocal critical buckling loads is obtained using governing equations of the nonlocal theory. The effect of the elastic medium, the buckling mode number, chirality, and aspect ratio on the nonlocal critical buckling loads of double-walled carbon nanotubes are studied and discussed. The Young’s modulus of three types of double-walled carbon nanotubes, with armchair, zigzag, and chiral tubules, are calculated based on molecular dynamics simulations. The nonlocal critical buckling loads in relation to the chirality of double-walled carbon nanotubes, buckling mode number, and length-to-diameter (aspect} ratio, in the presence and absence of an elastic medium, are examined.