Tensile Strength of Carbon Nanotubes under Realistic Temperature and Strain Rate

Strain rate and temperature dependence of the tensile strength of single-walled carbon nanotubes has been investigated with molecular dynamics simulations. The tensile failure or yield strain is found to be strongly dependent on the temperature and strain rate. A transition state theory based predictive model is developed for the tensile failure of nanotubes. Based on the parameters fitted from high-strain rate and temperature dependent molecular dynamics simulations, the model predicts that a defect free $\mu m$ long single-wall nanotub at 300K, stretched with a strain rate of $1\%/hour$, fails at about $9 \pm 1\%$ tensile strain. This is in good agreement with recent experimental findings.