Influence of Various Defect Parameters on the Vibration Characteristics of a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube

Abstract

Free vibration response of the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is investigated using molecular dynamics simulation. Vibrational analysis is performed to study the effects of various defect parameters such as aspect ratio, chirality, presence of vacancy defects, numbers of defects and their position along the length of the SWCNT. The effects of these features on the natural vibration of SWCNTs are studied by determining the change in fundamental natural frequencies due to these features. Dynamics simulations are performed for cantilever boundary condition. Vibrational response obtained through molecular dynamic simulations indicates that shorter tubes offer higher vibrational sensitivity. Chirality effect is found to diminish with the increase in the length of tube. It is also found that the number of defects and their position along the tube affect greatly the natural frequency of the SWCNT. This study will provide invaluable input to the designers and users of carbon nanotube in the field of high-sensitive sensor application.