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Indexed by:会议论文

Date of Publication:2006-01-01

Included Journals:CPCI-S

Page Number:595-598

Key Words:carbon nanotube; Cauchy-Born rule; interatomic potential; continuum theory; bending stiffness

Abstract:A nanoscale continuum theory is developed based on the higher order Cauchy-Born rule for the analysis of the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. Carbon. nanotubes can be seen as graphite sheets rolled into cylinders. They may undergo very large elastic deformations, which are usually inhomogenous. In order to take this effect into consideration, the classical Cauchy-Born rule, which-is originally developed for homogenous deformed space-filling crystals, is extended to capture the inhomogenous deformations of carbon nanotubes by incorporating the second-order deformation gradient. Based on the suggested theory and the atomistic interaction (Tersoff-Brenner potential) widely applied for carbon nanotubes, the bending strain energy and the bending stiffness of armchair and zigzag nanotubes are investigated. For the sake of validation of the current investigation, the corresponding simulations based on molecular dynamics are also conducted. The results based on the present method are in good agreement with those of molecular dynamics. Furthermore, it also confirms the efficiency of the developed theory.