Foreword

There has been extensive research on carbon nanotubes since their first discovery in 1991. Carbon nanotubes display superior material properties, and have many potential applications in nano-electronics, nanoscale mechanical probes, nano-composite materials, and nanoscale electro-mechanical systems. In recent years there has been much work on the mechanical, thermal, and coupled electro-mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. This special section of the ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology contains a selective set of papers on the mechanics, and mechanical/thermal/coupled electro-mechanical properties, of carbon nanotubes. The goal of this issue is to present the latest advances in the analytical, numerical and experimental approaches to study these properties of carbon nanotubes. The guest editor would like to acknowledge the authors and the reviewers for their generous contribution of time and research material. Furthermore, the support and dedication of the Technical editor, Professor Huseyin Sehitoglu, are also greatly appreciated.