Compressive mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes encapsulating helical copper nanowires Original Research Article

Molecular dynamics combined with continuum mechanics is utilized to predict the compressive mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes encapsulating helical copper nanowire (NW@CNTs). The helical structures of the copper nanowires are obtained using the “simulated annealing” method. The compressive behaviors of this kind of composites are studied. The strain energy curves are shown to predict the interaction between the atoms during the compressive course. This model can be used effectively to determine the mechanical properties such as the critical buckling load Pcr and the Young’s moduli of NW@CNTs with different diameters and lengths. We also find that not all the maximum strengths of the composites are larger than the corresponding carbon nanotube bases, and they are related with the diameter, length and the carbon nanotube’s chirality. According to the comparison with the pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs), some excellent properties of NW@CNTs are revealed.