Open Access

ARTICLE

Optimized Bearing and Interlayer Friction in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Wanlin Guo^1,2, Huajian Gao²

1 Institute of Nano Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China. E-mail: wlguo@nuaa.edu.cn.
2 Max-Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstrasse 3, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2005, 7(1), 19-34. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmes.2005.007.019

Abstract

A systematic investigation is performed on energy dissipation related interaction force associated with interlayer motion of sliding, rotation and telescoping between any two possible neighboring carbon nanotubes. In particular, we analyze the interlayer corrugation energy and sliding, rotation and telescoping resistance force associated with the Lennard-Jones potential as well as a registry-dependent graphitic potential. It is found that the interlayer resistance associated with both of these potentials can vary with the morphology, length and diameter of the two tubes. Energy dissipation related fluctuation of the resistant force can be as low as 10^-18N/atom between the most optimistic tube pairs, but can be as large as 10^-11N/atom in the widely investigated zigzag/zigzag orientations. In most cases, the fluctuation of interlayer sliding resistance force increases with the tube length in a commensurate pair of tubes, but can remain unchanged in an incommensurate pair. These findings may be significant for the design of nanotube-based devices.

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Keywords

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