Mechanical properties of various two-dimensional silicon carbide sheets: An atomistic study

Abstract

We investigate through molecular dynamics finite element method with Tersoff potential the mechanical properties of 13 SimCn sheets under uniaxial tension in the armchair and zigzag directions. It is found that the presence and dispersion of silicon atoms in SimCn sheets affect strongly the mechanical properties and the anisotropy of these sheets. The Young's modulus and fracture stress of the SimCn sheet decrease in general when the silicon concentration increases from 0 to 0.2. In contrast, the mechanical properties (Young's modulus, fracture stress, and fracture strain) increase slightly when the silicon concentration increases from 0.3 to 0.5 due to an increase of the degree of dispersion of silicon atoms in the SimCn sheet. The mechanical properties of the sheet are relatively high when the silicon concentration is low or silicon atoms are well dispersed.