Mechanical properties of graphene under shear deformation

In this letter, we investigate the mechanical properties of graphene under shear deformation. Specifically, using molecular dynamics simulations, we compute the shear modulus, shear fracture strength, and shear fracture strain of zigzag and armchair graphene structures at various temperatures. To predict shear strength and fracture shear strain, we also present an analytical theory based on the kinetic analysis. We show that wrinkling behavior of graphene under shear deformation can be significant. We compute the amplitude to wavelength ratio of wrinkles using molecular dynamics and compare it with existing theory. Our results indicate that graphene can be a promising mechanical material under shear deformation.

[1]  Jia-Lin Tsai,et al.  Characterizing mechanical properties of graphite using molecular dynamics simulation , 2009 .

[2]  H. J. Mcskimin,et al.  Elastic Moduli of Diamond as a Function of Pressure and Temperature , 1972 .

[3]  T. Belytschko,et al.  Atomistic simulations of nanotube fracture , 2002 .

[4]  Huijuan Zhao,et al.  Temperature and strain-rate dependent fracture strength of graphene , 2010 .

[5]  N. Aluru,et al.  Size and chirality dependent elastic properties of graphene nanoribbons under uniaxial tension. , 2009, Nano letters.

[6]  Changfeng Chen,et al.  Superhard cubic BC2N compared to diamond. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[7]  Paul L. McEuen,et al.  Mechanical properties of suspended graphene sheets , 2007 .

[8]  R. Superfine,et al.  Experimental measurement of single-wall carbon nanotube torsional properties. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[9]  A. Sakhaee-Pour,et al.  Elastic properties of single-layered graphene sheet , 2009 .

[10]  M I Katsnelson,et al.  Finite temperature lattice properties of graphene beyond the quasiharmonic approximation. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[11]  J. Lu,et al.  Elastic Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Nanoropes , 1997, cond-mat/9704219.

[12]  O. L. Blakslee,et al.  Elastic Constants of Compression-Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite , 1970 .

[13]  P. Ming,et al.  Ab initio calculation of ideal strength and phonon instability of graphene under tension , 2007 .

[14]  Marvin L. Cohen,et al.  Ideal strength of diamond, Si, and Ge , 2001 .

[15]  J. Kysar,et al.  Measurement of the Elastic Properties and Intrinsic Strength of Monolayer Graphene , 2008, Science.

[16]  Jia Lu,et al.  Analysis of localized failure of single-wall carbon nanotubes , 2006 .

[17]  Paul Geerlings,et al.  Ab initio study of the elastic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene , 2000 .

[18]  S. Stuart,et al.  A reactive potential for hydrocarbons with intermolecular interactions , 2000 .

[19]  Steve Plimpton,et al.  Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics , 1993 .

[20]  Chengyuan Wang,et al.  Wrinkling of monolayer graphene: A study by molecular dynamics and continuum plate theory , 2009 .