Nanostructure modeling for thermal properties of zigzag carbon nanotubes

Abstract

In the nanotube design application, the case of dynamic damage is key problem attracted many engineering researchers. The thermal effect on the axial buckling of zigzag double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) embedded in an elastic medium is investigated in this article based on the nonlocal Timoshenko beam model. The effects of the van der Waals (vdW) forces between inner and outer tubes and the surrounding elastic medium are taken into account based on a Winkler model. Moreover, a modified molecular mechanics model is developed to study the effect of thermal environment on mechanical properties of zigzag double carbon nanotubes, in which the covalent bonds are traded as a truss. It is found that the axial buckling properties of zigzag DWCNTs increase with the increase of the temperature at room or low temperature, while the axial buckling properties of zigzag DWCNTs decrease with the increase of the temperature at high temperature. Moreover, the buckling strain considering the thermal effect is larger than the buckling strain ignoring the effect of temperature change, and increases with the increase of temperature change, which is contrary to the case of high temperature.