Buckling of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Using Timoshenko Beam Theory
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 132, Issue 9
Abstract
A Timoshenko beam model is presented in this paper for the buckling of axially loaded multiwalled carbon nanotubes surrounded by an elastic medium. Unlike the Euler beam model, the Timoshenko beam model allows for the effect of transverse shear deformation which becomes significant for carbon nanotubes with small length-to-diameter ratios. These stocky tubes are normally encountered in applications such as nanoprobes or nanotweezers. The proposed model treats each of the nested and concentric nanotubes as individual Timoshenko beams interacting with adjacent nanotubes in the presence of van der Waals forces. In particular, the buckling of double-walled carbon nanotubes modeled as a pair of double Timoshenko beams is studied closely and an explicit expression for the critical axial stress is derived. The study clearly demonstrates a significant reduction in the buckling loads of the tubes with small length-to-diameter ratios when shear deformation is taken into consideration.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 132 • Issue 9 • September 2006
Pages: 952 - 958
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 21, 2005
Accepted: Dec 29, 2005
Published online: Sep 1, 2006
Published in print: Sep 2006
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Bojan B. Guzina
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