Carbon nanotubes (CNT) has a property of rebound elasticity, which is induced barely no fracture even bending to a greet extent due to its perfect structural integrity. Resent studies have been carried out on the plastic formation and fracture process of CNT by calculation and dynamics simulation. In this paper, the radial fracture of CNT was found feasible even though CNT has high tenacity, hard to allocation and detection for its nano-scale size. Both ramped load and constant load scratch tests were conducted on CNTs using a Nano Indetenter to investigate the pattern alteration and the critical behavior of radial fracture. Fracture caused by nano-scratching was observed after scratching. The scratch resistance of CNT and the evolution of friction coefficient during scratching were analyzed, and the critical load of fracture was obtained also, which led to a new understanding of the origin of the fracture mechanism of CNTs.

Volume Subject Area:
Micro and Nano Mechanics
Keywords:
carbon nanotubes, fracture mechanism, nanoscratch, critical load
Topics:
Carbon nanotubes, Fracture (Materials), Fracture (Process), Stress
This content is only available via PDF.
Copyright © 2007
 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.