Transversely isotropic elastic properties of multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes under a thermal environment

The temperature-dependent transversely isotropic elastic properties of multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes (MWBNNTs) were determined using molecular dynamics simulations with a three-body Tersoff potential force field. These elastic properties were calculated by applying the four different loading conditions on MWBNNTs: uniaxial tension, torsional moment, in-plane biaxial tension and in-plane shear. The effect of chirality, number of layers and aspect ratio (AR) were taken into consideration. The results reveal that the elastic constants of MWBNNTs decrease as their number of layers increase. The elastic moduli of MWBNNTs do not depend on the AR, but are a function of chirality. Furthermore, the effect of temperature on the transversely isotropic elastic constants of MWBNNTs was studied. Higher temperature considerably affects the mechanical properties of MWBNNTs. For instance, the reduction in the values of axial Young's, longitudinal shear, plane-strain bulk and in-plane shear moduli of MWBNNTs was found to be by approximately 10% due to the increase in temperature. The results reveal that the mechanical properties and failure behavior of MWBNNTs significantly depend on the number of layers, chirality and temperature. The finding of this work can be utilized for engineering MWBNNT-based advanced nanocomposite structures for specific application under thermal environment.