Multiscale modeling of graphene- and nanotube-based reinforced polymer nanocomposites

A combination of molecular dynamics, molecular structural mechanics, and finite element method is employed to compute the elastic constants of a polymeric nanocomposite embedded with graphene sheets, and carbon nanotubes. The model is first applied to study the effect of inclusion of graphene sheets on the Young modulus of the composite. To explore the significance of the nanofiller geometry, the elastic constants of nanotube-based and graphene-based polymer composites are computed under identical conditions. The reinforcement role of these nanofillers is also investigated in transverse directions. Moreover, the dependence of the nanocomposite?s axial Young modulus on the presence of ripples on the surface of the embedded graphene sheets, due to thermal fluctuations, is examined via MD simulations. Finally, we have also studied the effect of sliding motion of graphene layers on the elastic constants of the nanocomposite.     

Multiscale modeling of nanoindentation in copper thin films via the concurrent coupling of the meshless Hermite-Cloud method with molecular dynamics

This paper investigates the 2D nanoindentation of a copper thin film using a concurrent multiscale method. The method uses molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in the atomistic region, the strong-form meshless Hermite-Cloud method in the continuum region and a handshaking algorithm to concurrently couple them. A fully atomistic simulation is also carried out to validate the multiscale method. The results, namely the load versus indentation depth graph obtained from the multiscale method shows only slight quantitative variation from that of the full atomistic model. More importantly, the graphs from both simulations show a similar trend thus validating the 2D multiscale method. The displacement profile without discontinuities further supports the efficiency of the multiscale method in ensuring smooth exchange of information between the atomistic and continuum domains. The material properties extracted from the simulation include the force/unit length values obtained by dividing the maximum load on the indenter by its contact perimeter, instead of the hardness value obtained in 3D simulations. By restricting the atomic scale detail to the critical regions beneath the indenter, the multiscale method effectively saves computational resources to more than one order (close to 13 times less for this problem), thus making it feasible to simulate problems of larger dimensions that are not amenable to complete atomistic simulations.     

Effect of sp-hybridized defects on the oscillatory behavior of carbon nanotube oscillators

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the oscillatory behaviors of carbon nanotube oscillators containing sp³-hybridized defects formed by hydrogen chemisorption. It is found that the presence of these defects significantly affects the kinetic and potential energies of the nanotube systems, which in turn affects their oscillation periods and frequencies. We have also studied the oscillatory characteristics of the oscillators containing sp³-hybridized Stone-Wales defects. Our results show that it is possible to control the motion of the inner nanotube by introducing sp³-hybridized defects on the outer nanotube, which provides a potential way to tune the oscillatory behavior of nanotube oscillators.     

Mechanical properties of nickel-coated single-walled carbon nanotubes and their embedded gold matrix composites

The effects of nickel coating on the mechanical behaviors of armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and their embedded gold matrix composites under axial tension are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The results show that the Young's moduli and tensile strength of SWCNTs obviously decrease after nickel coating. For armchair SWCNTs, the decreased ratio of the Young's moduli of SWCNTs with smaller radius is larger than that of SWCNTs with larger radius. A comparison is made between the response to Young's modulus of a composite with parallel embedded nanotube and the response of a composite with vertically embedded nanotube. The results show that the uncoated SWCNT can enhance the Young's modulus of composite under the condition of parallel embedment, but such improvement disappears under the condition of vertical embedment because the interaction between SWCNT and gold matrix is too weak for effective load transfer. However, the nickel-coated SWCNT can indeed significantly improve the composite behavior.     

Molecular dynamics study of the torsional vibration characteristics of boron-nitride nanotubes

In recent years, synthesizing inorganic nanostructures such as boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) has led to extensive studies on their exceptional properties. In this study, the torsional vibration behavior of boron-nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) is explored on the basis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results show that the torsional frequency is sensitive to geometrical parameters such as length and boundary conditions. The axial vibration is found to be induced by torsional vibration of nanotubes which can cause instability in the nanostructure. It is also observed that the torsional frequency of BNNTs is higher than that of their carbon counterpart. Moreover, the shear modulus is predicted by incorporating MD simulation numerical results into torsional vibration frequency obtained through continuum-based model of tubes. Finally, it is seen that the torsional frequency of double-walled boron-nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs) is between the frequencies of their constituent inner and outer tubes.     

拉伸条件下双壁碳纳米管弹性性能的原子模拟

利用分子动力学方法，对双壁碳纳米管在拉伸条件下的弹性性能进行模拟，研究了直径在1 nm以上的4根双壁碳纳米管，模拟了它们的应力-应变关系以及泊松比.计算结果表明，在弹性范围内，双壁碳纳米管的应力与应变呈非线性关系，切线弹性模量大致从720 GPa减小至570 GPa，出现软化现象；随着拉伸应变的增大，泊松比从0.3变化到0.17，但结构尺寸对泊松比的影响不大. 关键词： 双壁碳纳米管 分子动力学 弹性模量 泊松比     

溶胶-喷雾法制备多壁碳纳米管增强氧化铝基复合材料及性能研究

采用溶胶-喷雾制备了多壁碳纳米管增强氧化铝基球形复合粉体,采用放电等离子真空快速烧结成型.SEM分析测试结果表明,多壁碳纳米管在氧化铝基体中呈网络分布,且主要位于晶界处,少量呈穿晶分布.复合材料性能分析测试结果表明,当多壁碳纳米管的质量分数为0.5%时,复合材料的维氏硬度相对纯的氧化铝提高了32.6%;热扩散系数在不同测试温度下相对纯氧化铝的平均提高幅度为27.2%.此外,当多壁碳纳米管质量分数达到0.5%时复合材料呈导体,根据渗流导电理论拟合得到实验制备复合材料的渗流阈值为0.32 wt.%,说明多壁碳纳米管在氧化铝基体中分散良好.     

A multiscale coupling method for the modeling of dynamics of solids with application to brittle cracks

We present a multiscale model for numerical simulations of dynamics of crystalline solids. The method combines the continuum nonlinear elasto-dynamics model, which models the stress waves and physical loading conditions, and molecular dynamics model, which provides the nonlinear constitutive relation and resolves the atomic structures near local defects. The coupling of the two models is achieved based on a general framework for multiscale modeling – the heterogeneous multiscale method (HMM). We derive an explicit coupling condition at the atomistic/continuum interface. Application to the dynamics of brittle cracks under various loading conditions is presented as test examples.     

Molecular dynamics study of effects of nickel coating on torsional behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube

The effects of nickel coating on the torsional behaviors of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) subject to torsion motion are investigated using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The simulation results show that regardless of chirality, defect or radius, nickel coating can considerably enhance the critical torque of SWCNTs. However, by comparing the critical torsion angle between nickel-coated SWCNTs and corresponding pristine SWCNTs, it is found that nickel coating in small-radius nanotubes does induce a reduction in the critical torsion angle. The results also show that the structural failure of nickel coated imperfect (9,0) SWCNT occurs at an obviously higher critical torque in comparison with uncoated (9,0) SWCNT with a vacancy defect. Furthermore, we also find that the critical torque of a short nickel coated SWCNT is bigger than that of a long one, while the critical torsion angle for a short tube is smaller than that for a long one.     

Effect of temperature on deformation of carbon nanotube under compression

The mechanical behaviour of carbon nanotubes is one of the basic research fields on the nanotube composites and nano machinery. Molecular dynamics is an effective way for investigating the behaviour of nano structure. The compression deformation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under different temperature is simulated, by using the Tersoff－Brenner potential to describe the interactions in CNTs. The results show that thermal fluctuations may induce the strained CNT to overcome the local energy barrier and develop the plastic deformation.     

Enhanced interfacial strength of carbon nanotube/copper nanocomposites via Ni-coating: Molecular-dynamics insights

The molecular bridging between carbon nanotube (CNT) within the meta matrix is hopeful for enhancing nanocomposite's mechanical performance. One of the main problems for nanocomposites is the inadequate bonding between nonstructural reinforcement and meta matrix. Ni-coating on CNT is an effective method to overcome the drawback of the inadequate strength, but the enhancing mechanism has not well interpreted yet. In this paper, the enhancing mechanism will be interpreted from the molecular-dynamics insights. The pullout process of CNT and Ni-coated CNT against copper matrix is investigated. The effects of geometric parameters, including CNT length and diameter, are taken into considerations and discussed. Results show that the interfacial strength is significantly improved after the Ni-coated CNT, which shows a good agreement with the experimental results available in the open literature. Besides, the sliding mechanism of Ni-coated CNTs against copper matrix is much more like a kind of friction sliding and directly related to the embedded zone. However, the pullout force of the CNT without Ni-coating is nearly proportional to its diameter, but independent of embedded length.     

碳纳米管封装表面异构Si20融化的结构演变

采用分子动力学方法模拟一种硅的特殊结构（表面异构的硅十二面体结构）填充到扶手型单壁纳米管组成的复合结构的加热过程,通过可视化,键角分布,二面角分布等分析方法来研究这种结构在碳纳米管中的稳定性和结构演变情况。研究发现这种结构在碳纳米管中是非常稳定的,并且随着温度的升高,硅纳米团簇的四面体结构开始减少,近邻原子数目有所增加,但不超过8个。该复合结构是由二十个四面体组成的正十二面体,通过模拟分析可知这种结构具有相当高的稳定性,一部分原因是正四面体的单臂纳米管比较稳定,对十二面体结构的硅起了一定的保护作用;另一部分原因是Si20的正十二面体本身具有较高稳定度,这一点我们通过可视化软件发现这种团簇是缩成一团而并不是从中间裂开观察得到。     

Molecular dynamics simulation on mechanicalproperty of carbon nanotube torsional deformation

In this paper torsional deformation of the carbon nanotubes is simulated by molecular dynamics method. The Brenner potential is used to set up thesimulation system. Simulation results show that the carbon nanotubes can bear larger torsional deformation, for the armchair type (10,10) single wall carbon nanotubes, with a yielding phenomenon taking place when the torsional angle is up to 63$^{\circ}$(1.1rad). The influence of carbon nanotube helicity in torsional deformation is very small. The shear modulus of single wall carbon nanotubes should be several hundred GPa, not 1\,GPa as others reports.     

Simulation of mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes with superlattice structure

The effect of radius and layer thickness on the mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes with ‘zigzag-armchair-zigzag’ superlattice structure (CNTSS) is investigated using molecular dynamics simulation method. The interactions between carbon atoms are modeled using the second-generation reactive empirical bond-order Brenner potential coupled with the Lennard-Jones potential. The results indicate that the Young's modulus of CNTSS shows a significant dependence on its radius and layer thickness. In contrast, the critical stress is insensitive to the layer thickness and radius of CNTSS. And the critical stress of CNTSS is close to that of its thicker carbon nanotubes segment. In addition, the damage modes of CNTSS depend on the connecting region due to the presence of 5–7 defects and the energy early concentrating in the junctions. The effects of the number of junctions on the mechanical properties of CNTSS are also discussed. The results indicate that the joints made in this way still have relatively high mechanical properties corresponding to that of the ideal single-walled carbon nanotube.     

Effects of pressure and temperature on the isothermal bulk modulus of CaO

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to investigate the effects of pressure and temperature on the isothermal bulk modulus of CaO using pair-wise interactions that include polarization effects through the shell model (SM). The dependence of isothermal bulk modulus B_T of CaO on the compression ratio V/V₀ and pressure P have been obtained from MD runs at T=300 K, and compared with the available experimental data and other theoretical results. A good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. Meanwhile, B_T dependence on temperature T at zero pressure is investigated. At extended pressure and temperature ranges, SM-MD method has also been carried out for predicting the P-V-T equation of state and isothermal bulk modulus at different temperatures along the isotherms 0, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 K, and at different pressures along the isobars 5, 15, 30, 40, and 50 GPa for CaO, respectively.     

Effects of electromigration on copper atoms in carbon nanotube channels

The effects of electromigration on copper in carbon nanotube (CNT) channels are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The study shows that the potential energy of copper and the resistive forces on copper are dependent on the shape of the CNT junction, and the increase in bias voltages magnifies these effects. Bias voltages affect the density of copper in the downstream CNT. The velocity of copper in the downstream CNT is relatively lower than that in the upstream CNT when the biased voltage is high.     

Simple theoretical model of shear viscosity in isotopic fluid mixtures

We propose a simple hybrid model for the shear viscosity of isotopic fluid mixtures by coupling the contribution of the Stokes–Einstein relation with the existing linear model of Roults's law for the shear viscosity. The calculated values of shear viscosity using this simple hybrid model are found to be in excellent agreement with the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results. The calculated value of the shear viscosity obtained from the theoretical model as well as the MD simulation increases with increasing mass ratio.     

剪切形变对硼氮掺杂碳纳米管超晶格电子结构和光学性能的影响

碳纳米管作为最先进的纳米材料之一, 在电子和光学器件领域有潜在的应用前景, 因此引起了广泛关注. 掺杂、变形及形成超晶格为调制纳米管电子、光学性质提供了有效途径. 为了理解相关机理, 利用第一性原理方法研究了不同剪切形变下扶手椅型硼氮交替环状掺杂碳纳米管超晶格的空间结构、电子结构和光学性质. 研究发现, 剪切形变会改变碳纳米管的几何结构, 当剪切形变大于12%后, 其几何结构有较大畸变. 结合能计算表明, 剪切形变改变了掺杂碳纳米管超晶格的稳定性, 剪切形变越大, 稳定性越低. 电荷布居分析表明, 硼氮掺杂碳纳米管超晶格中离子键和共价键共存. 能带和态密度分析发现硼氮交替环状掺杂使碳纳米管超晶格从金属转变为半导体. 随着剪切形变加剧, 纳米管超晶格能隙逐渐减小, 当剪切形变大于12%后, 碳纳米管又从半导体变为金属. 在光学性能中, 剪切形变的硼氮掺杂碳纳米管超晶格的光吸收系数及反射率峰值较未受剪切形变的均减小, 且均出现了红移.     

Frequency change by inter-walled length difference of double-wall carbon nanotube resonator

Ultrahigh frequency nanomechanical resonators based on double-walled carbon nanotubes with different wall lengths were investigated via classical molecular dynamics simulations. For a double-walled carbon nanotube resonator with a short outer wall, the free edge of the short outer wall plays an important role in the vibration of the long inner wall. For a double-walled carbon nanotube resonator with a short inner wall, the short inner wall can be considered as a flexible core, thus, the fundamental frequency is influenced by its length. By controlling the length of the inner or outer wall, various frequency devices can be realized by a single type of double-walled carbon nanotube with walls of equal length.     

聚酰亚胺/钽铌酸钾纳米颗粒复合材料结构与机械性能分子动力学模拟

利用多尺度建模方法构建了聚酰亚胺/钽铌酸钾纳米颗粒复合物模型, 通过分子动力学模拟研究了不同尺寸钽铌酸钾纳米颗粒(5.5, 8.0, 9.4, 10.5, 11.5 Å)对复合材料的结构、弹性模量和相互作用能的影响规律, 并通过计算纳米颗粒表面原子键能和单位表面积原子数目探究了复合物机械性能提高的内部机理. 聚酰亚胺和聚酰亚胺/钽铌酸钾复合材料的杨氏模量分别为2.91和3.17 GPa, 泊松比分别为0.37和0.35, 钽铌酸钾纳米颗粒的引入可以显著改善聚酰亚胺的机械性能. 纳米颗粒表面原子的键能为8.62-54.37 kJ·mol^-1, 表明颗粒与基体主要通过范德华力作用结合且有氢键存在. 计算结果表明, 相同掺杂比例下, 纳米颗粒尺寸越小, 纳米颗粒表面原子数目越大, 颗粒与基体作用更强, 杨氏模量的提高幅度越大, 尺寸效应越显著. 因此, 掺杂小尺寸纳米颗粒是提高聚酰亚胺机械性能的有效途径.