Investigating Curvature Effect on Tensile Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

The discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNT) in 1991 has brought many scientific breakthroughs. These breakthroughs resulted from the superior properties of CNTs. The remarkable properties of CNTs were the center of attraction for many researchers around the globe. This study was performed using molecular dynamic simulations, where the primary focus was to compare the mechanical properties of single-walled CNTs with multi-walled CNTs. However, the CNT models considered the influence of waviness as it is a very prominent characteristic associated with CNT growth. To clarify the influence of waviness on CNTs a comparison was done between straight and wavy structures at various temperatures from 300 K to 1200 K. The comparison resulted in a significant decrease in total strength where straight CNT structures had higher Tensile strength and Modulus of elasticity of 121.67 GPa and 1106.09 GPa, respectively. Whereas, compared to MWCNT, where it had a Tensile strength and Modulus of elasticity of 64.33 GPa and 584.81 GPa.

Keywords Axial Tension; Carbon nanotubes; Molecular dynamics; Multi-walled carbon nanotubes; Waviness