FEM Modeling of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes show exceptionally high stiffness, tensile strength, and resilience, which have the potential to be an ideal reinforcement for new Nanocomposites. But before that, research in this field is needed to confirm the use of CNTs in various composites for real world applications. It is very difficult to compute different material properties of these Nano-scale materials. Compared to physical experimentation, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation and continuum mechanics model an effective way to model its different properties. The continuum approach has the advantage of analyzing large-scale models over MD simulation. In the present work, modeling of CNT is done through both Finite Element Method (FEM) & MD simulation technique that are two major and distinct research fields. MD Simulation method is used through LAMMPS (Large Atomic Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator) software to evaluate the Young's modulus (superior mechanical property) of CNT. The finite element (FE) model is based on the RVE (Representative Volume Element) technique through ANSYS. This work involves the calculation of one of the important mechanical property (Young’s modulus) of a composite where CNT is used as a layer to improve the overall mechanical property of it. The simulation method first develops an armchair structure of CNT, then with the help of accurate coding and potential file, evaluates this property. After getting Young’s modulus value of the CNT by simulation technique, Carbon Nanotube is used as homogeneous and isotropic material layer inside a 3-D solid model of the composite matrix. Numerical results from the deformation response of CNT are analyzed to confirm the increment in load carrying capacity of the matrix by the use of CNT layer.