Mechanical deformations of boron nitride nanotubes in crossed junctions
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902 (United States)
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 23681 (United States)
- Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Warsaw (Poland)
We present a study of the mechanical deformations of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in crossed junctions. The structure and deformation of the crossed tubes in the junction are characterized by using atomic force microscopy. Our results show that the total tube heights are reduced by 20%–33% at the crossed junctions formed by double-walled BNNTs with outer diameters in the range of 2.21–4.67 nm. The measured tube height reduction is found to be in a nearly linear relationship with the summation of the outer diameters of the two tubes forming the junction. The contact force between the two tubes in the junction is estimated based on contact mechanics theories and found to be within the range of 4.2–7.6 nN. The Young's modulus of BNNTs and their binding strengths with the substrate are quantified, based on the deformation profile of the upper tube in the junction, and are found to be 1.07 ± 0.11 TPa and 0.18–0.29 nJ/m, respectively. Finally, we perform finite element simulations on the mechanical deformations of the crossed BNNT junctions. The numerical simulation results are consistent with both the experimental measurements and the analytical analysis. The results reported in this paper contribute to a better understanding of the structural and mechanical properties of BNNTs and to the pursuit of their applications.
- OSTI ID:
- 22273525
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 16; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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