COMPOSITES

SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414
www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech

Eccentric compression stability of multi-walled carbon

nanotubes embedded in an elastic matrix
X.Y. Wang, X. Wang *, X.H. Xia
Department of Engineering Mechanics, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University,
Shanghai 200240, PR China

Received 12 March 2006; received in revised form 3 September 2006; accepted 14 September 2006
Available online 27 October 2006

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an investigation on the eccentric compression stability of multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in
an elastic matrix. Based on continuum modeling, a multilayer shell model is presented for the eccentric compression buckling of multi-
walled carbon nanotubes embedded in an elastic matrix, in which the effect of van der Waals forces between two adjacent tubes is taken
into account. The critical bending moment and the eccentric compression mode for three types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes with
different layer numbers and ratios of radius to thickness are calculated. Results obtained show that the eccentric compression buckling
mode corresponding the critical bending moment is unique, and is different from the purely axial compression buckling of an individual
multi-walled carbon nanotube. For different types of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the effect of matrix stiffness on the critical bending
moment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes under eccentric compression loading is obviously different, and is dependent on the innermost
radius and layer numbers of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The critical bending stress exerted on the center tubes of nearly solid
multi-walled carbon nanotubes does not change as the ratio of the axial compression loading to the bending membrane force increases.
The new features and meaningful numerical results in this paper are helpful for the application and the design of nanostructures in which
multi-walled carbon nanotubes act as basic elements.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Carbon nanotubes; B. Modeling; B. Mechanical properties

1. Introduction tube-composite structures due to shrinkage of matrixes

Carbon nanotubes discovered by Iijima [1] at the begin-
ning of the last decade, has attracted worldwide attention
related to the use of the nanotubes in material reinforce-
ment, field emission panel display, parts of nano-devices,
hydrogen storage, (high frequency) micromechanical oscil-
lators and sensors [2–4]. Lau and Hui [5] presented recent
developments on the nanotubes and investigations in the
applications on nanotube composites, and gave much
attention on the examination of the mechanical properties
such as tensile strength of an individual nanotube or a bun-
dle of nanotube-rope, and the buckling properties of nano-
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xwang@sjtu.edu.cn (X. Wang).
after curing. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes are composed
of concentric layers of single-walled carbon nanotube
(SWNT). When multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)
occur in large strain deformation, they bend at large angles
and may start to elastically ripple, buckle, and form kinks,
which induces abrupt changes of physical properties of the
MWNTs. The investigations on tension, compression,
bending or torsional deformations of single- or multi-
walled carbon nanotubes have been the subject of numer-
ous experiments and theoretical approaches [6–15].
Generally, there are two theoretical approaches to
understand the mechanical behavior of nano-structures:
atomistic molecular-dynamics simulations and continuum
mechanics. The molecular dynamic (MD) simulations
have been conducted by several investigators [7,16].

0266-3538/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2006.09.006
 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414
However, the computational problem here is that the time
steps involved in the MD simulations are limited to sys-
tems with a maximum atom number of about 109 by
the scale and cost of computation [17]. Yakobson et al.
[7] introduced an atomistic model for axially compressed
buckling of single-walled nanotube and also compared it
with a simple continuum shell model. They found that
all changes of buckling patterns displayed by the molecu-
lar-dynamics simulations could be predicted by the con-
tinuum shell model. Based on a continuum mechanics
model, Wang et al. [18–20] constructed different three-
dimensional finite element models to obtain an effective
bending modulus of CNTs with various rippling
deformations.
Because electronic and transport properties of carbon
nanotubes could be extremely sensitive to even very small
distortion of their otherwise perfect cylindrical geometry
[21,22], recently considerable attention has turned to buck-
ling behavior of single- or multi-walled carbon nanotubes
[23–26]. Ru [27] presented an elastic double-shell model
for infinitesimal buckling of a double-walled carbon nano-
tubes embedded in an elastic medium under axial compres-
sion. Ru [28] also studied the effect of van der Waals
interaction between the inner and outer nanotubes on axial
buckling of double-walled carbon nanotubes, and derived a
simple formula for the axially critical strain. Wang and
Yang [29] presented the effect of thermal environment on
axially critical load of multi-walled CNTs by utilizing a
continuum mechanics model. Wang et al. [30] has recently
studied elastic buckling of individual MWNTs subjected to
radial external pressure based on the multilayer shells
model from Ru [26,31] and their results showed that the
predicted critical pressure using continuum mechanics
model is in a reasonably good agreement with some exper-
iment results from Tang et al. [32], which further offers an
evidence that the elastic shell model can be used to study
buckling behavior of single- or multi-walled carbon
nanotubes.
Most of the previous works on buckling behavior of sin-
gle- or multi-walled carbon nanotubes have mainly focused
on the purely axial compression buckling behavior or the
pure bending behavior of carbon nanotubes. From Arroyo
et al. [33] and Williams et al. [34], a number of experiments
have suggested that multi-walled carbon nanotubes can be
used as basic elements of nano-electromechanical systems,
such as AFM tip, CNT-nanomechanical switches, and elec-
tric, optical and mechanical nano-sensors and nanoprobes
in metrology, biological, chemical and physical investiga-
tions, which may be subjected to eccentric compression
loading.
To our knowledge, few detailed report on the eccentric
compression buckling of multi-walled carbon nanotubes
is available in literatures. This is apparently due to the fact
that experimental research and molecular dynamics simula-
tion for eccentric compression buckling of MWNTs
embedded in an elastic matrix remain a formidable task.
Therefore, eccentric compression stability of MWNTs
1407
embedded in an elastic matrix remains an open topic in
the literature.
Based on a multiple-elastic shell model considering van
der Waals interaction force between the inner and outer
layers of nanotubes, the present work reports the results
of an investigation on the eccentric compression stability
problems of MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix.
According to the ratio of radius to thickness, the
MWNTs discussed here are classified into three cases:
thin, thick, and nearly solid. The critical loading and
the eccentric compression stability mode are calculated
for various ratios of radius to thickness. Results carried
out show that the eccentric compression stability mode
corresponding the critical loading of MWNTs embedded
in an elastic matrix is unique, and is different from the
axially compressed buckling of MWNTs [26]. It is seen
from calculation examples that the distribution of maxi-
mum critical bending stresses exerted on each tube of
MWNTs under eccentric compression loading is depen-
dent on the ratio of radius to thickness and the ratio of
eccentric compression loading. For different types of
MWNTs, the effect of matrix stiffness on the critical bend-
ing moment of MWNTs under eccentric compression
loading is different, and is dependent on the innermost
radius and layer numbers of the MWNTs.
Compared to all known previous studies, the new fea-
tures, and some meaningful and interesting numerical
results in the present work will stimulate further interest
in this topic and may be used as a useful reference for
the application and the design of various nanostructures
in which multi-walled carbon nanotubes act as basic
elements.
2. Basic equation
The mechanics properties of single- or multi-walled car-
bon nanotubes have been effectively studied based on elas-
tic-shell models from Falvo et al. [6], Yakobson et al. [7],
and Ru [26,27]. Motivated by these ideas, MWNTs can
be taken as a set of concentric cylindrical shells with van
der Waals interaction between adjacent layers, which is
shown in Fig. 1. In the present model, because the inter-
laminar shear forces between layers of multi-walled carbon
nanotubes is negligible from Charlier and Michenaud [35],
for infinitesimal buckling of a cylindrical shell with radius
R, thickness h, Young’s modulus E and Poisson’s ratio l,
the stability equation of a cylindrical shell subjected to
eccentric compression loading can be given in terms of
w(x, y) as follows [24,36]
o2 4 o2 4
Dr8 w ¼ r4 pðx; yÞ þ N 0x ðx; yÞ r w þ N 0
y ðx; yÞ rw
ox2 oy 2
Eh o4 w
 ð1Þ
R2 ox4
where x and y express the axial and circumferential coordi-
nates of shell, w(x, y) denote the additional inward normal
1408 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414

pM
N ¼ dwN ð4Þ
elastic matrix
In the above formula, d expresses a spring constant deter-
Fx h Fx
The (k+1)th tube mined by the surrounding elastic matrix and the outermost
The van der Waals forces diameter of MWNTs and wN expresses the normal dis-
The kth tube placement of the outermost tube of MWNTs.
M Rk+1
M x
Based on Winkler linear elastic foundation, Ru [27]
introduced a spring constant, d, to describe the effect of
Rk an infinite matrix surrounding carbon nanotube on axially
compressed buckling of a double-walled carbon nanotube.
The van der Waals forces But, the physical relation among the spring constant,d, the
Fx Fx characteristic of surrounding elastic matrix and the outer-
L
most diameter of MWNTs has been not clearly given in
elastic matric their paper. The Whitney–Riley model in this paper may
be used to determine a spring constant d in Eq. (4) for a
Fig. 1. A multiwall carbon nanotube embedded in an elastic matrix, under finite elastic matrix or an infinite elastic matrix [37]. The
eccentric compression composed of an uniform compressive loading and a pressure, p, between the outermost tube and the surround-
pure bending moment. ing elastic matrix prior to buckling is uniform. Here, the
surrounding elastic matrix is considered as a hollow cylin-
displacements of the middle surface due to buckling, p(x, y) der with inner-radius RN and outer-radius b. The radial dis-
is the total inward normal pressure at the point (x, y), D is placement of the hollow cylinder under the uniform
the effective bending stiffness of the shell and internal pressure can be expressed as
N 0x ðx; yÞ and N 0y ðx; yÞ express the initial membrane forces
before buckling which are not uniform prior to buckling ur ¼ ðAr þ Br1 Þp ð5Þ
under an eccentric compression [24,36].
where
Because the van der Waals interaction pressures (per
unit area) between the kth tube and the (k + 1)th tube ð1 þ lM Þð1  2lM Þ 1
A¼ ;
are equal and opposite, the pressures pk(k+1) and p(k+1)k, EM b2 =R2N  1
exerted on the corresponding point on the tubes k and 1 þ lM b2
k + 1, respectively, should be related by B¼ ð6Þ
EM b2 =R2N  1
Rk
pðkþ1Þk ¼  p ; ðk ¼ 1; 2; . . . N  1Þ ð2Þ EM and lM express the Young’s module and Poisson ratio
Rkþ1 kðkþ1Þ
of matrix, respectively.
where Rk expresses the radius of the kth tube and all the If a multi-walled carbon nanotube is embedded in an
layers of MWNTs have the same Young’s modulus E, Pois- infinite elastic matrix, we have b ! 1, so that Eq. (6) is
son’s ratio l. simplified to
Applying Eqs. (1) and (2) to each layer of all concentric
tubes of MWNTs, eccentric compression stability of 1 þ lM 2
A ¼ 0; B¼ RN ð7Þ
MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix is governed by EM
the N coupled equations as follows: Neglecting the dependence of the spring constant d on the
8
D1 r w1 ¼ r p12 þ 4 2
N 0x1 oxo 2
r w1 þ 4
r w1 
2
N 0y1 oyo 2 4 Eh1 o4 w1 curvature of buckling mode as a second-order effect, then
R21 ox4
  substituting Eqs. (6) and (7) into Eq. (5), the spring con-
DN 1 r8 wN 1 ¼ r4 pðN 1ÞN  RRNN 2
1
p ðN 2ÞðN 1Þ
stants obtained from Whitney–Riley model for a finite elas-
2 2
tic matrix and an infinite elastic matrix can be, respectively,
þN 0xðN 1Þ oxo 2 r4 wN 1 þ N 0yðN 1Þ oyo 2 r4 wN 1 determined as
o4 wN1
 Eh
R2
N 1
ox4 Em ðb2  R2N Þ
N1
d ¼ pM
N ður¼RN ¼ 1Þ ¼ ð8aÞ
DN r8 wN ¼ r4 pM 4 0 o 4 2
RN ð1 þ lm Þ½ð1  2lm ÞR2N þ b2 Þ
N þ r p N ðN 1Þ þ N xN ox2 r wN
o4 wN
Em
2
þN 0yN oyo 2 r4 wN  EhN d ¼ pM
N ður¼RN ¼ 1Þ ¼ ð8bÞ
R2 N
ox4 ð1 þ lm ÞRN
ð3Þ
where wk(x, y)(k = 1, 2, . . ., N) is the inward deflection of 3. Analysis for eccentric compressive stability
the kth tube, the subscripts 1, 2, . . . N are used to denote
the quantities associated with each layer from the inner- The van der Waals force between two carbon atoms can
most tube to the outermost tube, and pM N expresses a inter- be described by the Lennard–Jones model from Girifalco
action pressure between the outermost layer of MWNTs [38]. Since the innermost radius of MWNTs is usually
and the surrounding elastic matrix, which is given by much larger than 0.5 nm from Iijima et al. [39], the inter-
 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414 1409

layer interaction potential between two adjacent tubes can M ¼ M1 þ M2 þ    þ MN ð12aÞ

be simply approximated by the potential obtained for two Furthermore, the bending moments, M1,M2, . . . ,MN, ap-
flat graphite monolayers, denoted by g(d), where d is the plied on each tubes of MWNTs are dependent on their ra-
interlayer spacing [40]. This model has been previous dii, which is expressed as
shown to provide good agreement with experimental
results carried out by Lu [41]. For the present infinitesimal M 1 : M 2 :    M N ¼ R31 : R32 :    R3N ð12bÞ
buckling analysis, the van der Waals pressure, pV (x, h), at
any point between two adjacent tubes should be a linear Combining the Eqs. (12a) and (12b), the bending moments
function of the deflection jump at that point, so we have Mk applied on the kth tube of MWNTs can be expressed
[26] as
 
dgðdÞ
pV ¼ þ cðDwÞ; ð9aÞ R3
dd d¼t M k ¼ PN k 3
M; ðk ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; N Þ ð13Þ
k¼1 Rk
where
 The distribution of the bending stress applied on the kth
d2 g
c ¼ 2 ð9bÞ tube is expressed as
dd d¼t
y
In the above formula, t is the initial interlayer spacing prior rbxk ¼ rbk cos ; ð0 6 y 6 pÞ ð14Þ
Rk
to buckling, which is equal or very close to the representa-
tive thickness of single-walled carbon nanotube, (Dw) ex- where rbk expresses the maximum bending stress applied
presses the deflection jump due to buckling, and c on the kth tube.
expresses the van der Waals interaction coefficient. Because Integrating Eq. (14) over the cross section of the kth
the initial interlayer spacing is very close to the equilibrium tube, the bending moment applied on the kth tube is rewrit-
interlayer spacing at which dg(d)/dd = 0 described by Girif- ten as
alco [38], the first term of Eq. (9a) is negligible, reflecting Z 2pRk
the fact that all initial interlayer pressures vanish. Saito y
Mk ¼ rbxk h  dy  R cos ð15Þ
et al. [42] gave a van der Waals interaction coefficient as 0 Rk
320 erg=cm2 Combining the Eqs. (14) and (15), the maximum bending
c¼ ðg ¼ 1:42  108 cmÞ ð9cÞ
0:16 g2 membrane force in the kth tube can be expressed as
Here, because the present analysis is limited to infinitesimal Mk Rk M
buckling, the interaction coefficient c is calculated at the N xk ¼ rbk h ¼ 2
¼ PN 3 ; ðk ¼ 1; 2;    ; N Þ ð16Þ
pRk p k¼1 Rk
initial interlayer spacing (about 0.34 nm). The curvature-
dependency of the interaction coefficient c is neglected here For the bending of an elastic cylindrical shell, prior to
because it is very small when the innermost radii are much buckling, the Brazier effect causes the circular cross-sec-
larger than 0.6 nm [40,43]. Thus, the van der Waals forces tion of the shell to become more ovalized uniformly over
between two adjacent layers due to buckling are expressed the whole shell length as the bending curvature increases
as [44]. Considering that the MWNTs is so long that the
constraints at two ends have no considerable effect on
p12 ¼ c½w2  w1 ; p23 ¼ c½w3  w2 ; . . . ; the magnitude of the critical internal force so that the
pðN 1ÞN ¼ c½wN  wN 1  ð10Þ Brazier effect of the pre-buckling shell does not affect
the buckling additional deformation in the stability gov-
Before buckling, the initial membrane force of the kth tube erning Eq. (1), the eccentric compressive buckling modes
of MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix, under eccentric of the kth layer of multi-walled carbon nanotubes can
compressive loading composed of a uniform compression be taken as [36]
and a pure bend, is expressed as
y npx X 3
ky
N 0xk ¼ F xk þ N xk cos ð11Þ wk ¼ sin fkn cos
Rk L n¼1 Rk
 
where F xk ¼ F x ¼ F 0x =N (k = 1, 2, . . . N) expresses the axial npx y 2y 3y
¼ sin fk1 cos þ fk2 cos þ fk3 cos ;
uniform membrane force of the kth tube induced by axially L Rk Rk Rk
uniform compressive loading, F 0x , and Nxk expresses the k ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; N ð17Þ
maximum bending membrane force in the kth tube induced
by the bending moment Mk(k = 1, 2, . . . N) of the kth where fk1, fk2, fk3 (k = 1, 2, . . .. . . N) are real constants,
layer. Rk(k = 1, 2, . . .. . . N) are the radius of the kth tube, L is
Thus the total bending moment applied on MWNTs is the length of MWNTs and ( n = 1, 2,. . .. . .) are the axial
written as half wavenumbers of the MWNTs.
1410 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414

Based on Galerkin’s method [36], we have and the axial half wavenumbers of the MWNTs,
8R R respectively.
L 2pR1
> npx y
> 0 0 Z 1 sin L cos R1 dydx ¼ 0
>
< Thus, the existence condition of a non-zero solution of
R L R 2pR1
Z 1 sin npx cos R2y1 dydx ¼ 0 fNk (N = 1, 2, . . . N; k = 1, 2, 3) in Eq. (26) is given by
> 0 0
> R L R 2pR
L
>
: det½AðM; F 0x ; nÞ3N 3N ¼ 0 ð22Þ
0 0
1
Z 1 sin npx
L
cos R3y1 dydx ¼ 0
.................. This condition determines the critical bending moment
8 R L R 2pRN M(n) exerted on MWNTs for different axially uniform
>
> Z N sin npx cos RyN dydx ¼ 0 compressive force F 0x . Thus the corresponding maximum
< R0 R0 L
L 2pRN
Z N sin npx cos R2yN dydx ¼ 0 ð18Þ bending stress, rbk(n), exerted on the kth tube can be ob-
>
>
0 0 L
tained by utilizing Eq. (16).
: R L R 2pRN
0 0
Z N sin npx
L
cos R3yN dydx ¼ 0
4. Four calculation examples and discussion for eccentric
where  
o2 w1 o2 w1 compression stability
Z 1 ¼ Dr8 w1  cr4 ½w2  w1   r4 N 0x1 2 þ N 0y1 2
ox oy
In calculation examples, D1 =    = Dk = D = 0.85 eV
Eh o4 w1
þ 2 and h1 =    = hk = h = 0.34 nm, Eh1 =    = Ehk = Eh
R1 ox4 = 360 J/m2, l = 0.3 and L = 12RN (the outmost radius)
..................... are taken from [26], so that the critical bending moment
RN 2 M(n) can be obtained for a given ratio, Fx1/Nx1, between
Z N 1 ¼ Dr8 wN 1  cr4 ½wN  wN 1  ðwN 1  wN 2 Þ compressive membrane force, Fx1, and the maximum bend-
RN 1
  ing membrane force, Nx1, applied on the first tube. Thus
4 0 o2 wN 1 0 o2 wN 1 Eh o4 wN 1
 r N xðN 1Þ þ N yðN 1Þ þ the corresponding maximum bending critical stresses,
ox2 oy 2 R2N 1 ox4 rbk(n) = Nxk(n)/h exerted on the kth tube can be described
RN 1 in Figures. According to the radius-to-thickness ratio of
Z N ¼ Dr8 wN þ dr4 wN þ r4 ½c ðwN  wN 1 Þ
RN MWNTs, all MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix,
  under eccentric compressive loading, are classified into
o2 wN 2
0 o wN Eh o4 wN
 r4 N 0xN þ N yN þ ð19Þ the three typical cases, which are shown in Table 1. Here,
ox2 oy 2 R2N ox4
we calculate four examples for all three types ((a) thin
Substitution of Eq. (19) into Eq. (18) yields a set of alge- MWNTs, (b) thick MWNTs and (c) nearly solid) of
braic equations for fk1, fk2, fk3 (k = 1, 2, . . .. . . N), which MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix, under eccentric
is
8 expressed as compression combined bending and axial compression
< A11 f11 þ A12 f12 þ A14 f21 ¼ 0
> loading, respectively. The relationship between the bending
A21 f11 þ A22 f12 þ A23 f13 þ A25 f22 ¼ 0 moment of MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix, under
>
:
A32 f12 þ A33 f13 þ A36 f23 ¼ 0 eccentric compression loading, and the axial half wave-
numbers n is shown in Fig. 2 for four examples as shown
..................
8 in Table 1.
> A½3ðN 1Þþ1½3ðN 2Þþ1 fðN 1Þ1 þ A½3ðN 1Þþ1½3ðN 1Þþ1 fN 1 An interesting result is that the axial half wavenumbers
>
>
>
> þA½3ðN 1Þþ1½3ðN 1Þþ2 fN 2 ¼ 0 corresponding to the critical bending moment in MWNTs
>
>
>
<A under eccentric compression are unique for all three types
½3ðN 1Þþ2½3ðN 2Þþ2 fðN 1Þ2 þ A½3ðN 1Þþ2½3ðN 1Þþ1 fN 1
of MWNTs, and is different from the relationship between
> þA½3ðN 1Þþ2½3ðN 1Þþ2 fN 2 þ A½3ðN 1Þþ2½3ðN 1Þþ3 fN 3 ¼ 0
>
>
> the axially compressed buckling stress and the wavenum-
>
> A½3ðN 1Þþ3½3ðN 2Þþ3 fðN 1Þ3 þ A½3ðN 1Þþ3½3ðN 1Þþ2 fN 2
>
> bers (m, n) from Wang et al. [26]. As the result, there is only
:
þA½3ðN 1Þþ3½3ðN 1Þþ3 fN 3 ¼ 0 one combination of the wavenumbers, n, which corre-
ð20Þ
The detailed expression of coefficientsAij in Eq. (20) is too Table 1
lengthy and is not put in this paper. The geometrical data for examples of MWNTs
Eq. (25) can be2rewritten 3 as Examples: Thin MWNTs Thick Nearly
f11 (1, 2) MWNTs (3) solids (4)
6 7 Example numbers: 1 2 3 4
6 f12 7
6 7 R1 (nm) (Innermost 8.5 18 2.7 0.65
6 7
½AðM; F 0x ; nÞ3N 3N 6 f13 7 ¼ 0 ð21Þ radius)
6. 7
6. 7 R1/Nh 5.00 6.62 0.99 0.24
4. 5 (h = 0.34 nm, the effective
fN 3 thickness of a SWNTs)
where M, F 0x and n express the total bending moment and L (nm) (length) 118.32 244.56 60.96 36.36
the axially uniform compressive force applied on MWNTs, N (number of layers) 5 8 8 8
 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414 1411

3.0
Critical bending moments M c r (10 –15 Nm ) Layer 1
d/c=0.02

( G Pa)
under eccentric compression (Fx1/Nx1= 0.5);
Nm)

2.5 7.0 Layer 2

A: M cr =2.413 for example 1

bk
Layer 3
-14

B: M cr =6.456 for example 2

C ri ti c a l b e nd i n g s t r e s s
2.0
Bending moment M (10

C: M cr =11.81 for example 3 Layer 4

6.5
D: M cr =0.512 for example 4
Layer 5
1.5
C
6.0
1.0
B
A
0.5 5.5

D
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0
0 50 100 150 200 Eccentric compressive loading F x1/ Nx1
Axial buckling wavenumber n
Fig. 3a. The critical bending stresses for each layer versus the ratio of
Fig. 2. The relationships between the bending moment (M) and the axial
uniform compressive load to bending load for example 1, where d is the
buckling wavenumber (n) for examples 1–4.
spring coefficient of matrix and c is van der Waals interaction coefficient.

sponds to the critical bending moment under eccentric

compressive loading, so that the axial half wavenumbers Layer 1
3.4
of buckling modes of MWNTs under eccentric compres- (GPa) Layer 2
sion loading can be determined uniquely. d/c=0.02 Layer 3
From Fig. 2, it is seen that the critical bending moments 3.2 Layer 4
bk

of MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix with (d/c = Layer 5

C r i ti ca l be n d i ng s tr e s s

Layer 6
0.02), under eccentric compressive loading Fx1/Nx1 = 0.5, 3.0
Layer 7
for these four examples are 2.413 · 1015 Nm (n = 88), Layer 8
6.456 · 1015 Nm (n = 127), 11.81 · 1015 Nm (n = 67), 2.8
and 0.512 · 1015 Nm (n = 51), respectively. Comparing
curves in Fig. 2, the maximum critical bending moment 2.6
appears in a thick MWNTs with smaller innermost radius
(Example 3) under eccentric compressive loading Fx1/Nx1 2.4
= 0.5, which shows that this type of MWNTs can resist 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Eccentric compressive loading F x1/ Nx1
higher bend loading, and the minimum critical bending
moment occurs in a nearly solid MWNTs embedded in Fig. 3b. The critical bending stresses for each layer versus the ratio of
an elastic matrix (Example 4), which shows that this type uniform compressive load to bending load for example 2, where d is the
of MWNTs can only resist lower bend loading. From spring coefficient of matrix and c is van der Waals interaction coefficient.
Table 1 and curves in Fig. 2, it is seen that the critical bend-
ing moment of MWNTs under eccentric compressive load-
ing Fx1/Nx1 = 0.5, is dependent on the innermost radius to
thickness ratio of MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix. 16
Fig. 3a–3d show the maximum critical bending stress d/c=0.02
(GPa)

15
applied on each tube versus eccentric loading ratio
Fx1/Nx1 for four examples of MWNTs shown in Table 1. 14 8
bk

From Fig. 3a and 3b, it is seen that the maximum critical 7

Cr it ic a l b e n d i ng s t re ss

13
bending stresses applied on each tube of thin MWNTs 6
12
(Examples 1 and 2) decrease as the ratio of axial compres- 5
sive force to the bending membrane force, Fx1/Nx1, 11 4
increases. Fig. 3a and 3b show that the variation tendency 10 3
of the maximum critical bending stresses exerted on each 2
9
tube of thick or nearly solid MWNTs (Examples 3 and 4) k =1
versus the ratio of axial compressive force to the bending 8
membrane force, Fx1/Nx1, are related to the thickness of 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

MWNTs embedded in an elastic matrix. It is noted that Eccentric compressive loading Fx1/ Nx1

the critical bending stresses exerted on the innermost tubes Fig. 3c. The critical bending stresses for each layer versus the ratio of
of thick or nearly solid MWNTs increases as the ratio of uniform compressive load to bending load for example 3, where d is the
axial compressive force to the bending membrane force, spring coefficient of matrix and c is van der Waals interaction coefficient.
1412 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414

28 5. Simple validation of the present method

d/c=0.02
(GPa)

24 8 Because few detailed reports on the combined bending

7
and axial compression buckling behavior of multi-walled
bk

20 carbon nanotubes under eccentric compression loading is

Critical bending stress

6
available in previous literatures, an exact comparison of
5
16 the present result with existed results is difficult. In order
4 to obtain minimum comparisons with existing results of
12
3 pure bending buckling of MWNTs, the combined stability
2
problem of MWNTs under eccentric compression loading
8 can be simplified to a pure bending buckling problem by
k =1 letting the axial compression loading F 0x in Eq. (22) equal
4
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
zero.
Eccentric compressive loading F x1/ Nx1 First, literatures [7,38] presented an analytical formula
of critical bending moment (stress or strain) for an infini-
Fig. 3d. The critical bending stresses for each layer versus the ratio of tesimal buckling of single-shell under pure bending as
uniform compressive load to bending load for example 4, where d is the
spring coefficient of matrix and c is van der Waals interaction coefficient. M cr Eh
rcr ¼ ecr E ¼ ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð23Þ
pR2 h R 3ð1  l2 Þ

Fx1/Nx1, increases, the critical bending stresses exerted on Here, the linear buckling of a single-walled carbon nano-
the outermost tubes of thick or nearly solid MWNTs tube under pure bending is considered. Corresponding cal-
decrease as the ratio of axial compressive force to the bend- culating parameters are taken as
ing membrane force, Fx1/Nx1, increases, and the critical R ¼ 8:5 nm; h ¼ 0:34 nm;
bending stresses exerted on the center tubes of nearly solid
E ¼ 1:04 TPa ðEh ¼ 360 J=m2 Þ and l ¼ 0:3 ð24Þ
MWNTs do not change as the ratio of axial compressive
force to the maximum bending membrane force, Fx1/Nx1, Substituting Eq. (24) into Eq. (23), yields
increases.
M cr ¼ 1:975  1015 N m ð25Þ
Fig. 4 shows the effect of the stiffness of matrix on the
critical bending moment of MWNTs under eccentrix com- Substituting Eq. (24) into Eq. (22) and letting the axial
pressive loading (Fx1/Nx1 = 0.5). From Fig. 4, it is seen that compression loading F 0x in Eq. (22) equal zero, gives
the critical bending moment of MWNTs increases as the
M cr ¼ 1:960  1015 N m ð26Þ
stiffness of matrix surrounding the MWNTs increases.
For different types of MWNTs, the effect of matrix stiffness Comparing formula (25) and formula (26), it is seen that
on the critical bending moment is different, and is depen- two critical moments of single-walled CNTs under pure
dent on the innermost radius and layer numbers of bending obtained from different methods are a good
MWNTs. The effect of matrix stiffness on the critical bend- agreement.
ing moment of a thick MWNT with smaller innermost Second, a comparison of the present solution with some
radius (Example 3) is very obvious. existing results from an experimental test [45] and the mod-

14
Nm)

0.06
12
-15
Critical bending moment Mcr (10

Poncharal et al. (experiment)

0.05
for example 1 Pantano et al. (calculation)
10 for example 2 Present method
Critical bending strain

for example 3 Innermost diameter di=0.678 nm

0.04
8
0.03
6
0.02
4
0.01
2
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10
0.00
d/c 0 4 8 12 16
Layer numbers of carbon nanotubes
Fig. 4. The critical bending moments versus the ratio of the spring
coefficient of matrix to van der Waals interaction coefficient for examples Fig. 5. Comparison of critical bending strains of an individual MWNTs
1–3 in Table 1. under pure bending loading based on different methods.
 X.Y. Wang et al. / Composites Science and Technology 67 (2007) 1406–1414
3.0
Literature [24]
Present solution
2.5
Nm)
-15
M (10
2.0
1.5
1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
n numbers of the MWNTs. The critical bending stres-
Fig. 6. Bending moment M on the axial half wave number n of CNTs with
R1/L = 0.02333, under pure bending.
ified finite-element method [46] is shown in Fig. 5. It is seen
from Fig. 5 that critical bending strains from different
methods appear in a good agreement.
Finally, a further comparison of the bending moment on
axial half wavenumber n of double-walled CNTs under
pure bending given by the present method with curve 3 in
Fig. 2c of literature [24] is shown in Fig. 6. Here, calcula-
tion data are the same as those in Section 5.1 of the litera-
ture [24]. The reasonable agreement of the bending
moments on axial half wavenumber of double-walled
CNTs under pure bending based on two different methods
validates the present work further.
6. Conclusions
This paper reports the results of an investigation on the
combined stability of MWNTs embedded in an elastic
matrix, under eccentric compression loading, based on a
multilayer shell mode considering the van der Waals force
between two adjacent tubes described by Ru [27]. However,
it is worth to note that the van der Waals interaction is not
only from the adjacent tube but also from other tubes, as
shown in He et al.’s works [47,48]. It is also seen from lit-
eratures [47,48] that the effect of van der Waals interaction
model on the critical loading of MWNTs is dependent on
the innermost radius of MWNTs, and gradually decreases
as the innermost radius of MWNTs increases. Therefore, it
should be stressed that the present van der Waals interac-
tion model is rigorous only for the buckling problem of
MWNTs with larger radius. Certainly, analysis for eccen-
tric compression buckling of MWNTs based on a rigorous
van der Waals interaction between any two tubes of
MWNTs is a topic of greater interest for further work.
Main consequences in the paper are given by
(1) The axial buckling half wavenumbers (n) correspond-
ing to the critical bending moment of MWNTs
embedded in an elastic matrix, under eccentric com-
pression loading are unique for various types of
1413
MWNTs with different ratios of radius to thickness,
and is obviously different from the relationship
between the axially compressed buckling stress and
the axial half wavenumbers (n). As the result, there
is only one combination of (n) which corresponds
to the critical load, so that the axial half wavenum-
bers of the complex buckling mode of MWNTs under
eccentrix compression loading can be determined
uniquely.
(2) For different types of MWNTs, the effect of matrix
stiffness on the critical bending moment of MWNTs
under eccentric compression loading is different,
which is dependent on the innermost radius and layer
ses exerted on some center tubes of nearly solid
MWNTs do not change as the ratio of axial compres-
sion loading to the maximum bending membrane
force, Fx1/Nx1, changes.
(3) It is noted that in the paper, the van der Waal’s force
between neighboring concentric tubes is directly pro-
portional to the difference in the deflection in the two
layers due to linearized characteristics of the present
infinitesimal buckling. Although these linearized lim-
itations cannot reflect significant difference between
strong van der Waals repulsive forces and relatively
weak attractive forces, infinitesimal complex buckling
analysis has the potential to capture first singularity
of combined deformation of MWNTs embedded in
an elastic matrix, under eccentric compression
loading.
(4) Because electronic and transport properties of carbon
nanotubes could be extremely sensitive to even very
small distortion of their perfect cylindrical geometry,
the new features, and interesting numerical results of
the present work may stimulate further interest in this
topic, and may be used as a useful reference for the
application and the design of various nanostructures
in which multi-walled carbon nanotubes act as basic
elements.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank the referees for their valuable
comments.
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