Axial buckling of multiwall carbon nanotubes with heterogeneous boundaries

The finite element method has been employed to study the effects of different boundary conditions on the axial buckling of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Unlike previous works, both homogeneous and heterogeneous end constraints are considered for the constituent tubes of various MWCNTs comprising shell-type (i.e., the length-to-diameter ratio L/D < 10), beam-type (i.e., L/D > 10), and the two different types of constituent tubes. The results show that clamping the individual tubes of simply supported or free MWCNTs exerts a variety of influences on their buckling behaviors depending on the type of the MWCNTs, the position, and the number of the clamped tubes. Clamping the outermost tube can enhance the critical buckling strain up to four times of its original value and can shift the buckling modes of those MWCNTs consisting both shell- and beam- type tubes. In contrast, little difference can be observed when simply supported ends of MWCNTs are replaced by free ends or vice versa. Explicit buckling mode shapes obtained using the finite element method for various physically realistic cases have been shown in the paper. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3125312]