Elastic vs brittle behaviour of carbon nanotubes, investigated through molecular dynamics simulations

TL;DR

This paper uses molecular dynamics simulations to study how carbon nanotubes respond to various mechanical stresses, revealing temperature-dependent resilience and brittleness.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the temperature-dependent elastic and brittle behaviors of carbon nanotubes under different mechanical loads.

Findings

Nanotubes are resilient at low temperatures under extreme strain.

High temperatures induce brittle or plastic behavior in nanotubes.

Mechanical response varies significantly with temperature and type of stress.

Abstract

The objective of the present paper is to investigate the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. We use classical molecular dynamics simulation in order to study the effect of external compression, bending and torsion to nanotubes. We find that in the low temperature limit, the nanotubes are resilient, sustaining extreme strain without signs of brittleness or plasticity. For high temperatures and under tension the nanotubes show brittle or plastic behavior.