Energy and mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes predicted using the higher order Cauchy-Born rule

Abstract

Based on the higher order Cauchy-Born rule, a continuum-based constitutive model, which taking the interatomic potentials and atomic microstructure of carbon nanotubes into consideration, is presented for the analysis of the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. With the use of Tersoff-Brenner potential, the influences of the potential parameters, tube diameters, chirality and the inner displacement on the energies, the axial Young's moduli, the circular elastic moduli of graphite and single-walled carbon nanotubes as well as the bending stiffness of SWNT are investigated. The results obtained are in good agreement with that of molecular dynamics.