ABSTRACT
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) represent one important group of carbon nanomaterials [1,2] among many other nanostructured materials [3], including metallic, ceramic, polymeric, and nanocomposite materials [3–8]. The mechanical behavior of nanomaterials [8] and their mechanical and electromechanical properties are central for the understanding of nanotechnology and their applications. Design and optimization of nanodevices [3,9], advanced nanocomposites with tailored interfaces [9], complex multifunctional material systems, and novel miniaturized products require sophisticated modeling and analysis methods, which are properly adapted to the nanoscale level [5–7,9,10]. Thus, nanoscale mechanics are a cornerstone in the foundation of nanotechnology [3–7,9,10]. The nanoscale limitations of macromechanical and micromechanical continuum models are defined by the range of applicability and parametric maps as well as the nanoscale homogenization criteria [5,9] as it was first done for CNTs. The report of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) by Iijima in 1991 in the NEC Labs in Japan [1,2] was followed by the discovery of the single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) by Iijima and his team in 1993 and many other experiments and theoretical investigations [3]. A brief timeline is provided below.
1952—L. V. Radushkevich and V. M. Lukjanovich discovered CNTs (see Figure 6.1). Their unique material properties were recognized later in 1990s.
1991—S. Iijima (NEC Labs) re-discovered MWCNT.
1992—M. S. Dresselhaus’s team characterized the chirality of CNTs.
1993—S. Iijima and T. Ichihashi (NEC Labs) discovered SWCNT and used the concept of “shell” to describe carbon nanotubes.
1993—D. Tomanek’s team in Michigan studied the low-frequency vibrational modes of long “carbon tubules,” that is, CNTs.
1993/94—R. S. Ruoff and J. Tersoff team at IBM did one of the first theoretical modeling of deformation of CNTs and CNT crystals.
1581996—M. M. J. Treacy, T. W. Ebbesen, and J. M. Gibson carried out one of the first experimental testing of CNTs with the atomic force microscope (AFM).
1996—B. I. Yakobson, C. J. Brabec, and J. Bernholc performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the axial buckling and twisting of CNTs. They successfully used the concept of the continuum shell for CNT lattices.
1997—M. R. Falvo and R. Superfine’s team (University of North Carolina) conducted experiments on bending and buckling of CNTs under large strains.
1997—C. M. Lieber and his team at Harvard carried out experimental testing of vibrating CNTs similar to the earlier AFM experiments.
1998—Many scientists tested, modeled, and analyzed SWCNTs (e.g., Ajayan, Avouris, Brenner, Dai, Dresselhouse, Lordi, Lu, Ru, Ruoff, Rubio, Schadler, Sinnott, Smalley, Superfine, Wagner, White, and others).
2001—V. H. Crespi’s group (Penn State) and V. M. Harik (ICASE, NASA) independently predicted uniqueness of a new group of CNTs of small radii.*
2001—V. M. Harik (ICASE Institute, NASA Langley Research Center) introduced classification of CNTs into four classes (i.e., thin and thick lattice shells, long high-aspect-ratio nanotubes and the beam-like CNT crystals of small radii).
