title: Ballistic Fracturing of Carbon Nanotubes.
abstract: Advanced materials with multifunctional capabilities and high resistance to hypervelocity impact are of great interest to the designers of aerospace structures. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with their lightweight and high strength properties are alternative to metals and/or metallic alloys conventionally used in aerospace applications. Here we report a detailed study on the ballistic fracturing of CNTs for different velocity ranges. Our results show that the highly energetic impacts cause bond breakage and carbon atom rehybridizations, and sometimes extensive structural reconstructions were also observed. Experimental observations show the formation of nanoribbons, nanodiamonds, and covalently interconnected nanostructures, depending on impact conditions. Fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations were also carried out in order to gain further insights into the mechanism behind the transformation of CNTs. The simulations show that the velocity and relative orientation of the multiple colliding nanotubes are critical to determine the impact outcome.
authors: Department of Material Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States .
authors: Sehmus
authors: S
authors: Ozden
authors: Applied Physics Department, State University of Campinas , Campinas, São Paulo 13083-959, Brazil.|Departamento de Física Teórica e Experimental, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte , Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 59072-970, Brazil.
authors: Leonardo D
authors: LD
authors: Machado
authors: Department of Material Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States .
authors: ChandraSekhar
authors: C
authors: Tiwary
authors: Applied Physics Department, State University of Campinas , Campinas, São Paulo 13083-959, Brazil.|Universidade Federal do ABC , Santo André, São Paulo 09210-580, Brazil.
authors: Pedro A S
authors: PA
authors: Autreto
authors: Department of Material Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States .
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Vajtai
authors: Department of Material Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States .
authors: Enrique V
authors: EV
authors: Barrera
authors: Applied Physics Department, State University of Campinas , Campinas, São Paulo 13083-959, Brazil.
authors: Douglas S
authors: DS
authors: Galvao
authors: Department of Material Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , Houston, Texas 77005, United States .
authors: Pulickel M
authors: PM
authors: Ajayan
keywords: MD simulation; carbon nanotubes; high impact; junction; unzipping