MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBON NANOTUBES UNDER HYDROSTATIC PRESURE

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a subject of both experimental and theoretical research interest because they have high mechanical and physical properties. CNTs have been shown to allow many applications such as electromechanical sensor and microelectronic devices. In general, the properties of CNTs depend strongly on their geometric structures, including the diameter, chiral angle and layer numbers. In present study, the mechanical properties of CNTs under hydrostatic pressure are analyzed and investigated based on classical mechanics with 2D. The multiwalled-carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are considered as multi-shell mode coupled together through the van der Walls force between each interlayers. Using the proposed simulation method, the stress and strain in MWCNTs are investigated in detailed, and the critical buckling pressure of MWCNTs is estimated to be around 1 GPa when the diameter is larger than 2 nm. The buckling stability of CNTs becomes better in small CNTs and larger number of buckling modes. Moreover, the inner layers of MWCNTs have more stable buckling strength than the outer layers.