Tensile behavior of single crystalline nanotube bundles: An atomistic-level study.

The tensile behavior of single crystalline nanotube bundles was studied using classical molecular dynamics. Stillinger-Weber potential was used to describe the atom-atom interactions. The bundles consisted of several individual nanotubes with {100} side planes. The simulation results show that the nanotube bundles show a brittle to ductile transition (BDT) by changing the temperatures. The fracture of nanotube bundles is ruled by a thermal activated process, higher temperature will lead to the decrease of the critical stress. At high temperatures the individual nanotube in the bundles interact with each other, which induces the increase of the critical stress of bundles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]