Influence of Van der Waals interaction on the Mechanical properties of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes with Introducing Effective wall thickness

Much research has been carried out on the remarkable carbon-nanotubes (CNTs) mechanical properties in terms of its high strength and stiffness and excellent electronic, optical and transport properties. A detailed summary of CNTs mechanical properties can be found in [1]. A structural mechanics approach (Continuum modelling) was first developed by Natsuki [2] to predict the mechanical properties of SWNTs and MWNTs. This approach was based on carbon bonds beam-like representation and a linkage between the beam sectional stiffness parameters and constants of force field. However, very little research on the effect of van der Waals (VDW) interaction on the values of Young’s modulus of nanotubes has been reported.