Behavior of the mechanical system composed of highly deformable structural elements

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attractive for many applications because they possess a unique combination of mechanical and physical properties. Horizontally aligned CNT bundles under lateral compression behave as an elastic body with highly deformable elements, since their cross sections can collapse. Mechanical properties of such systems is poorly investigated in spite of the fact that they are promising for vibration and shock protection. Here we use a chain model with a reduced number of degrees of freedom in order to study the behaviour of a CNT bundle under uniaxial and biaxial lateral compression. Stress-strain curves are obtained and evolution of the CNT bundle structure is analyzed.