On the mechanics of single-walled carbon nanotubes

This review paper discusses some basics in using continuum mechanics and molecular dynamics to characterize the deformation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). It identifies that the van der Waals force between SWCNTs in a bundle distributes symmetrically and influences the bundle formation, and that to avoid misleading results from a molecular dynamics simulation, the interaction potential, thermostat scheme and simulation parameters must be carefully selected. The paper then points out that when the necessary condition proposed by Vodenitcharova and Zhang and a compatibility condition for elastic constants are satisfied, the intersect of the bending and in-plane stiffness curves in the modulus-thickness plane can determine a unique effective wall thickness of an SWCNT and hence its Young's modulus.