Temperature Dependence of the Tensile Properties of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes: O(N) Tight Binding MD Simulation

This paper examines the effect of temperature on the structural stability and mechanical properties of 20 layered (10,10) single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) under tensile loading using an O(N) tight binding molecular dynamics (TBMD) simulation method. We observed that (10,10) tube can sustain its structural stability for the strain values of 0.23 in elongation and 0.06 in compression at 300K. Bond breaking strain value decreases with increasing temperature under streching but not under compression. The elastic limit, Youngs modulus, tensile strength and Poisson ratio are calculated as 0.10, 0.395 TPa, 83.23 GPa, 0.285, respectively, at 300K. In the temperature range from 300K to 900K; Youngs modulus and the tensile strengths are decreasing with increasing temperature while the Poisson ratio is increasing. At higher temperatures, Youngs modulus starts to increase while the Poisson ratio and tensile strength decrease. In the temperature range from 1200K to 1800K, the SWCNT is already deformed and softened. Applying strain on these deformed and softened SWCNTs do not follow the same pattern as in the temperature range of 300K to 900K.