Buckling Behavior Of Carbon Nanotubes Research Articles

Combined Torsional Buckling of Carbon Nanotubes Subjected to Thermo-Electro-Mechanical Loadings with Consideration of Scale Effect

The present study has theoretically investigated the combined torsional buckling behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with consideration of scale effect in the multi-field coupling condition. The generalized governing equation of buckling for CNTs subjected to thermo-electro-mechanical loadings has been established based on an elastic shell model of continuum mechanics, in which scale effect is taken account of through the nonlocal elasticity theory. Except the applied torque and torsion-related axial load, the Van der Waals forces between adjacent nanotubes, as well as effects of temperature change and voltage load, is taken into consideration at the meantime. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the influences of different factors. The conclusions provided herein will be helpful and valuable for the dependent designs and related applications of CNT-based nano-structures serving in the complex thermal and electrical environment.

Modeling of elastic buckling of carbon nanotubes by molecular structural mechanics approach

This paper reports the elastic buckling behavior of carbon nanotubes. Both axial compression and bending loading conditions are considered. The modeling work employs the molecular structural mechanics approach for individual nanotubes and considers van der Waals interaction in multi-walled nanotubes. The effects of nanotube diameter, aspect ratio, and tube chirality on the buckling force are investigated. Computational results indicate that the buckling force in axial compression is higher than that in bending, and the buckling forces for both compression and bending decrease with the increase in nanotube aspect ratio. The trends of variation of buckling forces with nanotube diameter are similar for single-walled and double-walled carbon nanotubes. Compared to a single-walled nanotube of the same inner diameter, the double-walled carbon nanotube shows a higher axial compressive buckling load, which mainly results from the increase of cross-sectional area, but no enhancement in bending load-bearing capacity. The buckling forces of nanotubes predicted by the continuum beam or column models are significantly different from those predicted by the atomistic model.