Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107

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Composites Part B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compositesb

Advances in mechanical analysis of structurally and atomically

modied carbon nanotubes and degenerated nanostructures: A
review

Sadegh Imani Yengejeh a, *, Seyedeh Alieh Kazemi b, Andreas Ochsner c, d

a
Department of Solid Mechanics and Design, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia e UTM, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
c
School of Engineering, Grifth University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport 4222, Australia
d
School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the past few years, numerous research activities concerning the mechanical behavior of defected and
Received 18 September 2015 imperfect carbon nanotubes have been conducted. It is reported that the superlative mechanical prop-
Received in revised form erties of these nano-structures, i.e. high stiffness, high strength and vibrational response, would be
3 October 2015
affected by existing or introducing defects and impurities in the structure of the nanotubes. Such defects
Accepted 7 October 2015
Available online 23 October 2015
may results from manufacturing routes or introduced on purpose to tailor certain physical properties.
This review attempts to categorize and highlight the advanced breakthroughs and recent studies
employed to investigate the mechanical properties, e.g. stiffness, buckling behavior and vibrational
Keywords:
A. Nano-structures
response of structural and atomically modied carbon nanotubes. The presented studies cover the
B. Mechanical properties mechanical behavior of nanotubes, both theoretically and experimentally which allowed a realistic
B. Defects prediction of the mechanical behavior of defected tubes in a closer form to those found in reality. It was
Atomic and structural modication concluded that any type of imperfection, either atomic or structural modication, inuences the me-
chanical behavior of nanotubes and reduces the stiffness and structural stability, as well as vibrational
response of these nano-structures. The present review includes: (i) a brief introduction to atomic and
structural modication of nanotubes; (ii) a review of mechanical analysis of atomically and structurally
modied models in two separate sections; and (iii) a detailed conclusion on the discussed studies and
present the potential progress.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 1991 [10]. Their important mechanical, electrical and thermal

The industrialized world requires novel and sophisticated
technologies, for example, from nano-science to aerospace. Such
new technologies desire new devices constructed from new ma-
terials. Over the past few decades, carbon nanotubes have gener-
ated huge interest from many areas of science and engineering. This
is mainly due to their outstanding physical, mechanical and
chemical properties, such as high strength, good conductivity, high
stiffness, and high aspect ratio but very low density [1e9]. Carbon
nanotubes (CNTs) are hollow cylinders, constructed by hexagonal
unit cells, shaped by carbon atoms which were found by Iijima in
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 98 9359459747.
E-mail addresses: Imani.sd@gmail.com (S. Imani Yengejeh), Sa.kazemi83@gmail.
com (S.A. Kazemi), Andreas.Oechsner@gmail.com (A. Ochsner).
properties made these nanostructures distinctive and consequently
made them very interesting for a large number of advanced ap-
plications as either stand-alone nanomaterials or reinforced com-
posite materials. Numerous investigations have been conducted on
obtaining and improving the properties of CNTs. Prediction of
Young's modulus (of about 1 TPa) and tensile strength (of up to
63 GPa) for CNTs were of the most important objectives of these
studies [11]. These investigations can be divided into two groups of
experimental and computational approaches. Molecular dynamics
(MD) and continuum mechanics techniques such as the nite
element method (FEM) have been the most predominant compu-
tational approaches to evaluate the behavior of CNTs [12e14].
These nanostructures exist in single-walled or multi-walled con-
gurations. The single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) [15,16] is
formed by rolling a single graphene sheet seamlessly to model a

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2015.10.006
1359-8368/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
96 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
cylinder with a diameter of 1 nm and length of order of centimeters.
Similar to the basal plane separation in graphite, the multi-walled
carbon nanotube (MWCNT) is an array of such cylinders formed
concentrically and separated by 0.35 nm with diameters from 2 to
100 nm and lengths of tens of microns.
There are quite a lot of experimental reports on the impurities of
CNTs showing the existence of different kinds of imperfections in
the structure of CNTs including distortion, bending and twisting
along their longitudinal axis [17e19]. Nevertheless, most of re-
searchers considered the perfect form of CNTs in their computa-
tional and theoretical investigations and very less attention has
been paid to the mechanical behavior of imperfect, impure, curved,
and hetero-junction CNTs. The following investigations allow a
more realistic prediction of the mechanical properties of structural
and atomically modied CNTs in a closer conguration to those
found in reality which can be of use and importance in nano-
engineering and nano-material production. This review is orga-
nized as follows: Section 2 provides a brief introduction to atomic
and structural imperfection of CNTs. Section 3 and 4 present a re-
view of mechanical analysis of atomically and structurally modied
CNTs including axial and torsional stiffness, buckling behavior and
vibrational response of the CNTs, respectively. The last section
concludes the mentioned study and provides an overview on the
recent advances of modied CNTs.
2. Defective CNT structures
Basically, the defects in the structure of CNTs are divided into
two major categories, i.e. atomic and structural modication.
2.1. Atomic modication
There are some specic types of defects, e.g. doping, carbon
vacancy and perturbation which can impure the conguration of
CNTs.
2.1.1. Doping
This random imperfection corresponds to the case where a nite
number of carbon atoms were replaced by silicon, nitrogen, boron,
etc. [20e22].
2.1.2. Carbon vacancies
In such cases, a nite number of carbon atoms are missing in the
structure of CNTs.
2.1.3. Perturbation
In this condition, all carbon atoms of the CNT are misplaced for a
random length.
2.2. Structural modications
Apart from atomic modications in the structure of CNTs, there
are other types of macroscopic defect, e.g. hetero-junction, curved
tubes, twisted CNTs, spiral deformation, which affect the mechan-
ical behavior of these carbon nano-structures.
2.2.1. Straight hetero-junction
It is possible to connect two different homogeneous CNTs by
introducing a pair of pentagon and heptagon defects in the other-
wise perfect hexagonal graphite lattice [23]. Hetero-junction CNTs
are categorized based on the structures of their two initial homo-
geneous CNTs. The connecting region of these nano-structures is
categorized into three different classications, i.e. large angle, small
angle, and straight connections. Depending on the type of the
fundamental CNTs of hetero-junctions, these specic
congurations are classied as straight structures and bending
models, i.e. if the constituent CNTs of a hetero-junction are in the
same type (either armchair, zigzag and chiral), the conguration of
the hetero-junction is considered as a straight model and the ho-
mogeneous CNTs will be connected with parallel longitudinal axis.
2.2.2. Kink hetero-junction
On the other hand, if the initial homogeneous CNTs of a hetero-
junction are not in the same type, the hetero-junction will be
created with a bending angle. This type of structure is called a kink
hetero-junction. As it is noticeable, the pentagoneheptagon pair
defects of straight hetero-junctions both appear in one side of the
CNT. In contrast, the pentagoneheptagon pair defects of kink
hetero-junctions with bending angles are placed separated in
opposite sides of these specic nano-structures [24].
2.2.3. Curvature
Curvature is a very important macroscopic defect in the
conguration of CNTs which has a signicant inuence on the
mechanical behavior of these nano-particles. According to experi-
mental and modeling results, one of the key aspects of CNTs which
should be properly addressed is initial curvature [23]. Several ex-
periments revealed that the structure of nanotubes will be
deformed due to external forces [25].
2.2.4. Twisting
CNTs might be deformed by introducing a twisting angle to the
conguration of the tube. This specic modication affects the
mechanical properties of CNTs [26]. Some experimental in-
vestigations revealed the twisted structure of these nanotubes.
2.2.5. Spiral deformation
This type of deformation occurs when the tube is twisted, like a
spring, along its longitudinal axis [27]. Based on this spiral angle,
several CNTs can be created with different conguration.
Fig. 1 illustrates a few instances of the mentioned structural and
atomic modications.
3. Research work on atomic modication
The following sections provide a review on the mechanical
behavior of atomically modied CNTs.
3.1. Axial stiffness
In 2004, Liew et al. [28] examined the elastic and plastic prop-
erties of CNTs under axial tension using the MD simulation. They
also modeled the interaction force between atoms applying the
second-generation of reactive empirical bond-order potential
coupled with the LennardeJones potential. They obtained the
stressestrain response to describe the elastic and plastic behavior
of SWCNTs and MWCNTs. In addition, they discussed and presented
the plastic deformation due to the formation of the StoneseWales
defects and the brittle fracture due to the bond breaking. Their
simulation revealed that the fracture damage of MWCNTs initially
takes place in the outer most layer, and subsequently occurring in
the inner layer. Lau et al. [29] presented a critical review on the
prediction of mechanical properties of CNTs. They discussed the use
of nite element modeling combined with MD simulation for
evaluating the mechanical properties of nanostructures. They
pointed out that the value of Young's modulus cannot be directly
used to estimate the mechanical properties of MWCNTs due to the
discontinuous stress transfer inside the nanotubes. Then, in 2006,
Meo and Rossi [30] proposed a FE model to investigate the fracture
progress in armchair and zigzag CNTs with defects under uniaxial
 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
Fig. 1. Some examples of structural and atomic modications: (a) three-junction, (b)
Si-doping, (c) straight hetero-junction, (d) carbon vacancy, (e) spiral tube, (f) pertur-
bation, (g) curved tube, (h) pentagon-heptagon pair defect.
tensile stress. The novelty of their proposed approach lies in the use
of nonlinear axial and torsional springs to model a local interaction
and breakage of bonds of CNT atoms under axial loads. Their nding
revealed that the effect of chirality on the mechanical properties
and failure mode of CNTs was quite signicant and cannot be
neglected. After that, Chandra and Namilae [31] applied MD and
static simulations to investigate the mechanical behavior of perfect
and atomically defective CNTs. They observed that the elastic
properties of CNTs are signicantly inuenced by the presence of
doping and StoneeWales defects. Tserpes et al. [32] applied an
atomistic-based progressive fracture model to simulate the me-
chanical performance of CNTs under the inuence of topological
defects. They indicated that the predicted fracture evolution, failure
stresses and failure strains of the CNTs correlate very well with
molecular mechanics simulations from the literature. Later in 2007,
Tesepes and Papanikos [33] studied the effect of the StoneeWales
defect on the tensile behavior and fracture of armchair, zigzag and
chiral SWCNTs, applying an atomistic-based progressive fracture
model. They nally concluded that the inuence of the Stone-
eWales defect on the tensile behavior of the SWCNTs depends
solely on the nanotube chirality and the tube size was found to play
97
a minimal role in the tensile behavior of StoneeWales-defected
SWCNTs. One year later, in 2008, Agrawal et al. [34] conducted MD
simulations of armchair and zigzag CNTs under tensile load to
investigate the vibration of six CeC bond lengths and bond angles
of the hexagons in SWCNTs as a function of tensile. They also per-
formed simulations at higher values of strain in order to obtain the
values of breaking strain. Based on their nding, they suggested
that the presence of attenuation functions in empirical potentials
may cause problems, if bond distances or strains become larger
than the onset point of these functions. In the same year, Qin et al.
[35] applied MD simulation to study the mechanical behavior of
single-walled to four-walled CNTs with intramolecular junctions
(IMJs) under uniaxial tension. Moreover, they examined the
dependence of deformation and failure behaviors of IMJs on the
geometric parameters. They found that the rupture strength of a
junction is close to that of its thinner CNT segment, and the rupture
strain and the Young's modulus show a signicant dependence on
its geometry. Their simulation also revealed that the damage and
rupture of MWCNTs junctions take place rst in the innermost layer
and then propagate consecutively to the other layers. In 2009,
Rahmandoust and Ochsner [36] generated perfect structures of FE
models of SWCNTs. Then, after deriving mechanical properties in
agreement with existing literature values, different levels of
perturbation and missing atoms in the model were applied. In
another approach, some of the carbon atoms were replaced with
silicon to produce a Si-doped SWCNT. Afterwards, they compared
the mechanical behavior of the three kinds of imperfect structures
with the perfect tubes. Finally they concluded that with any type of
imperfection, the stiffness of the model decreases compared to the
perfect CNT. Nevertheless, they used a limited range of CNTs in their
investigation. Alizada and Soyev [37] evaluated the modied
Young's moduli in both directions for the two-dimensional single
crystal body with a square lattice applying continuum mechanics
method. They also compared the values of effective Young's moduli
with the same values for an innite crystal lattice. Their in-
vestigations indicated that the inuences of scale effects and va-
cancies on Young's moduli are signicant. Furthermore, they
concluded that the effective Young's moduli have three compo-
nents, i.e. the macroscopic value, factors determining the scale ef-
fect, and factors determining the vacancy. Talukdar and Mitra [38]
studied the effect of StoneeThrowereWales defects on the me-
chanical properties a zigzag (5,0) SWCNT by applying MD simula-
tion in 2010. They considered two different interatomic potential
functions, the TersoffeBrenner bond order potential and the Tight-
Binding potential. Applying the mentioned potentials, made their
novel investigation an outstanding study in nano-engineering. The
CNT was subjected to axial stretch and the potential energy was
computed for gradually increasing values of strain. From the
energyestrain curve, the mechanical characteristics such as
Young's modulus, tensile strength and ductility were computed
using both the potentials, rstly with a perfect lattice and then by
introducing an increasing number of StoneeThrowereWales de-
fects. They nally observed a signicant reduction in the values of
the mechanical properties with changes in the plastic deformation
pattern. Hayashi and Endo [39] introduced the synthesis and
application of CNTs as ller for nanocomposite materials. They
overviewed the physical and chemical behavior of CNTs such as the
mechanical strength and density and presented the main compo-
nent of CNTs and its purication. Alizada and Soyev [40]
continued their investigations and studied the mechanics of
deformation and stability of an elastic beam with a nanocoating
under an axial compression. They modeled the behavior of the
construction by the two-layered beam and obtained the stresse-
strain relations of the elastic beam with nanocoating under axial
tensile load. They nally explored the inuence of the
98 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
characteristics of a nanocoating on the values of the dimensionless
critical axial load parameter. Then, in 2012, Ghavamian et al. [41]
constructed several SWCNTs and MWCNTs in their perfect and
imperfect from in order to investigate the mechanical properties of
these nano-structures. They also compared the numerical results of
imperfect models with those of perfect ones. Their ndings
revealed that the impurities in the perfect models lead to lower
stiffness values. Kinoshita et al. [42] examined the mechanical
properties of SWCNTs with one-dimensional IMJs, applying rst-
principle density functional theory calculation. They also investi-
gated the inuence of pentagon and heptagon pair defects at the
junction on the Young's modulus, tensile strength and breaking
strain of IMJs. Based on their calculations, it was indicated that the
deformation concentration on a seven-membered ring causes the
strength and elongation of CNT-IMJs to decrease. They pointed out
that the tensile strength and breaking strain of CNT-IMJs depend on
the position of pentagon and heptagon pair defects, while these
properties of CNT-IMJs are not signicantly affected by the number
of pentagon and heptagon pair defects. Alizada et al. [43] conducted
a study to investigate the stress analysis of a substrate coated by
nanomaterials with a vacancy under uniform extension load. They
also obtained the expressions for the determination of the contact
pressure and stresses of the substrate with a nanocoating that have
vacancies. Moreover, they computationally studied the effects of
the characteristics of a nanocoating with and without vacancies on
the values of contact pressure and stresses of the coated substrate.
Based on the molecular mechanics approach, Baykasoglu et al. [44]
predicted the failure behavior of CNTs. They pointed out that the
fracture behavior of all types of CNTs is brittle, armchair nanotubes
are stiffer than zigzag CNTs and vacancy defects signicantly affect
the mechanical behavior of these nanostructures. Furthermore, it
was indicated that large deformation and nonlinear geometric ef-
fects are important in regards to the fracture behavior of CNTs.
Applying a MD simulation approach, Vijayaraghavan and Wong
[45] explored the mechanical characteristics of SWCNT with sur-
rounding water interactions. They investigated the effect of
chirality, geometry of the SWCNT and the presence of end caps on
water submerged SWCNT. Their ndings indicated that the pres-
ence of surrounding water molecules will reduce the mechanical
strength of SWCNT. It was also revealed that the location and
concentration of defects will strongly affect the mechanical
strength of nanotubes. Gkikas et al. [46] employed dynamic me-
chanical analysis in order to investigate the tensile properties of
MWCNTs. They also examined the effect of the dispersion condi-
tions with regards to the CNT content, the sonication time and the
total sonication energy input. In 2014, Sarma et al. [47] investigated
the inuence of the presence of points, line and StoneeWales de-
fects on the tensile behavior of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) by
applying reactive force elds in the MD framework. They found that
the Young's modulus of single-walled (10,0) BNNTs of length
100 nm is nearly 1.098 TPa. In addition, it was reported that the
presence of defects reduces the tensile strength of the tube. The
main objective of Raee and Pourazizi [48] was to investigate the
inuence of microscopic defects on the mechanical properties of
SWCNTs. They considered the number of CeC bonds, distributions
and their orientations as random variables accounting for full sto-
chastic analysis. Thus, a computer code was provided for the sto-
chastic modeling. They obtained the Young's modulus of defected
CNTs and compared with non-defected ones. It was nally
concluded that the importance of vacancy defects is signicantly
higher than that of StoneeWales defects implying on the drawback
of the chemical functionalization process. Recently, in 2015, Brcic
et al. [49] examined the mechanical properties of straight and
waved CNTs by applying the FEM. In addition, different vacancy
defects were considered on the same straight and waved nanotube
models. They nally showed that longitudinal elastic modulus re-
duces by introducing the atomic defects to the structure of the
tubes. El-barbary et al. [50] presented a detailed theoretical study of
the behavior of mono-vacancy and B-doped defects in carbon
hetero-junction nanodevices. It was shown that the highest surface
reactivity is found for the B-doped zigzagearmchair hetero-
junction and it is easier to remove the carbon atom from the
network of hetero-junction armchairearmchair CNTs than the
hetero-junction zigzagearmchair and zigzagezigzag CNTs. Then,
Sihn et al. [51] developed a computational scheme to predict
stiffness and strength of carbon nanostructures under various
loading modes. They investigated several carbon nanostructures
including CNTs, graphene, CNT with defect, a CNT graphene junc-
tion and pillared graphene nano-congurations. For all cases, they
identied the maximum stress and strain at failure of these carbon
nanoparticles as well as their critical failure modes. Employing MD
simulations, Xi et al. [52] investigated the effect of radius and layer
thickness on the mechanical properties of CNTs with zig-
zagearmchairezigzag superlattice structures. The interaction be-
tween carbon atoms was modeled using the second-generation
reactive empirical bond-order Brenner potential coupled with the
LennardeJones potentials. Based on their results, it was cleared that
the Young's modulus of CNT superlattice structures shows a sig-
nicant dependence on its radius and layer thickness. Conversely,
the critical stress was insensitive to the layer thickness and radius
of CNT superlattice. Furthermore, the damage modes of the CNT
superlattices depend on the connecting region due to the presence
of pentagon and heptagon pair defects. Raee and Mahdavi [53]
studied the inuence of vacancy defects on the Young's modulus
of CNTs, using two different nonlinear force elds. They also
analyzed the effect of CNT diameter, chirality and length on their
results. It was indicated that nanoscale continuum modeling, which
is used as a compromise in modeling of nanostructure, un-
derestimates the reduction level in the Young's modulus of defec-
ted CNTs. Furthermore, they concluded that the location of defects
plays an important role in dening the degree to which the Young's
modulus decreases. Zuberi and Esat [54] simulated nite element
models in order to investigate the mechanical properties of
SWCNTs. They evaluated the effect of diameter and chirality on the
Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the nanotubes. Their pro-
posed modeling technique presented a valuable tool for deter-
mining other material properties of nanostructures. Imani Yengejeh
et al. [55] continued and broadened the previous computational
studies and conducted an investigation examining the tensile
behavior of several straight connected CNTs with pentagon and
heptagon pair defects. They found that the Young's modulus of
these hetero-junctions is lower than the values of their initial ho-
mogeneous CNTs. This occurs due to the existence of pentagon and
heptagon defects in the junctions of nanotubes. They also
concluded that by increasing the connecting length of the hetero-
junctions, the Young's modulus of these specic CNTs decreases.
Therefore, the tensile strength of hetero-junctions depends on the
presence of pentagon and heptagon pair defects. Table 1 summa-
rizes some of the highlighted theoretical and experimental studies
for predicting Young's modulus of atomically modied CNTs.
3.2. Torsional stiffness
In 2009, Pozrikidis [56] investigated the inuence of the
StoneeWales defect on the equilibrium structure and mechanical
properties of SWCNTs in axial stretch and twist which is due to the
rotation of a pair of neighboring atoms. Their numerical compu-
tations for CNTs with zigzag and armchair chirality indicated that
inclined, axial and circumferential defect orientations have a strong
impact on the mechanical response of CNTs in axial stress and twist.
 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107 99

Table 1
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of Young's modulus of atomically modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Young's modulus (TPa) Research summary

Liew et al. [28] 2004 MD (second-generation reactive of 1.031e1.043 for (10,10) Studying the elastic and plastic properties of CNTs under
empirical bond-order) SWCNT; 0.872e0.932 for axial tension.
four-walled CNT
Meo and 2006 Nano-scale continuum modeling (NCM) 0.92 for armchair CNT; 0.912 for Predicting the ultimate strength and strain of SWCNTs and
Rossi [30] zigzag tube inuences of chirality and imperfection
Chandra and 2006 MD (static simulation) 1.05 for (8,0) CNT; 1.11 for Investigating the mechanical behavior of atomically
Namilae [31] (10,10) CNT modied CNTs.
Qin et al. [35] MD (the revised second-generation 0.72e0.83 for hetero-junction Studying the mechanical behavior of single- to four-walled
TersoffeBrenner potential) CNTs CNTs with IMJs under uniaxial tension
Rahmandoust and 2009 FEM 1.03 Investigating the mechanical behavior of perfect and

Ochsner [36] imperfect CNTs
Talucdar and 2010 MD (the TersoffeBrenner bond order 1.131 Predicting the mechanical behavior of zigzag CNTs under
Mitra [35] Potential and the Tight-Binding the inuence of StoneeThrowereWales defects
potential)
Ghavamian 2012 FEM 1.03 for SWCNT; 1.14 for Numerically evaluate the elastic properties of MWCNTs
et al. [39] ve-walled CNT
Kinoshita 2013 First-principle density functional theory 0.997e1.039 Investigating the inuence of pentagon and heptagon pair
et al. [40] defect at a junction on the Young's modulus, tensile
strength and breaking strength of IMJs
Sarma [44] 2014 MD (applying a reactive force eld) 1.098 Examining the effect of topological defects on the tensile
behavior of BNNTs
Raee and 2014 FEM (using nano-scale continuum 1.029 for zigzag CNT; 1.045 for Providing a computer code for the stochastic modeling and
Pourazizi [45] mechanics) armchair CNT obtaining the Young's modulus of defected CNTs and
comparing with defect free models
Brcic et al. [46] 2015 FEM 1.018e1.069 Studying the mechanical behavior of straight and waved
CNTs under the inuence of vacancy defects and of
obtaining the longitudinal elastic modulus structurally
defected models
Xi et al. [49] 2015 MD (applying the second-generation 0.74e0.83 Exploring the effect of radius and layer thickness on the
reactive empirical bond-order Brenner mechanical behavior of CNTs with zigzag-armchair-zigzag
potential coupled with the Lennard superlattice structures
eJones potentials)

They concluded that when the tube is twisted around its axis, a
neck develops at the location of the defect, signaling possible
disintegration. In 2010, Huq et al. [57] presented an analysis of
interactions between a pair of StoneeWales defects in a SWCNT
that had been subjected to an external torque. Their nding
revealed that the deformation of CeC bonds is attributed to bond
stretching and bending. Then, Talukdar and Mitra [58] represented
the interaction of the in-plane CeC bond of an armchair (8,8)
SWCNT under axial loading and twist, both for perfect and imper-
fect lattices. Finally, they computed the Young's modulus, shear
modulus, tensile strength, shear strength, ductility, stiffness and
toughness of the CNT. Lu and Hu [59] performed computational
simulations for predicting the mechanical behavior of CNTs based
on the molecular mechanics approach. They calculated the elastic
stiffness of graphene and the rolling energy per atom through the
analysis of rolling a graphene sheet into a SWCNT to validate their
proposed method. Finally, the inuence of diameters and helicity
on Young's modulus and the shear modulus of SWNTs were
investigated. After that in 2013, Ghavamian et al. [60] conducted a
study to investigate the shear behavior of CNTs, applying the clas-
sical torsion test. To clarify the most appropriate approach, the
shear modulus of CNTs was obtained through the simulation of two
basic tests. First, they calculated the modulus directly from the
torsion test. Second, a tensile test was simulated and the corre-
sponding Young's modulus and shear modulus of the nanotubes
were obtained for classical isotropic materials. After comparing
both results, they found that the CNTs behave rather as anisotropic
materials. In addition, they quantied the involved error based on
the isotropy assumption for different congurations, number of cell
walls and under the inuence of imperfections. Imani Yengejeh
et al. [61] continued their study, numerically investigating the
shear behavior of numerous connected CNTs with pentagon and
heptagon pair defects. They found that the twisting angle of
straight hetero-junction CNTs lies within the twisting angle of their
initial homogenous CNTs in the torsion test. Furthermore, they
concluded that the shear properties of these nano-materials and
their initial tubes change by increasing the chiral number of both
armchair and zigzag CNTs. Recently in 2014, Imani Yengejeh et al.
[62] introduced more impurities to the structure of hetero-
junctions and investigated the shear and tensile properties of
connected CNTs with atomic modications. The mechanical prop-
erty of these imperfect nanotubes was numerically evaluated and
compared with those of the perfect tubes. It was pointed out that
the existence of any type of imperfection in the structure of CNTs
leads to a reduction in the Young's and shear modulus, and as a
result, lower stiffness of these straight hetero-junctions. Raee and
Maleki Moghadam [63] conducted a comprehensive research on
the modeling and simulation of isolated CNTs and studied their
mechanical behavior. They also reviewed different investigations
available in literature in regards to their own ndings. Recently in
2015, Ghavamian et al. [64] investigated the elastic and shear
moduli of perfect and imperfect hetero-junctions CNTs based on
the linear-elastic deformation of these nanostructures. Their results
demonstrated that armchair and zigzag CNTs possess the highest
Young's and shear moduli, respectively. They observed that arm-
chairearmchair and zigzagezigzag hetero-junction CNTs have the
highest Young's modulus among the hetero-junction CNTs, while
the shear modulus peaks were seen in zigzagezigzag tubes. The
most important investigations concerning the evaluation of shear
modulus of atomically modied CNTs are presented in Table 2.
3.3. Buckling behavior
Xin et al. [65] employed a MD simulation for the axial
compression of both perfect and defective SWCNTs in 2007. They
pointed out that the buckling and axially compressive properties of
100 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107

Table 2
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of shear modulus of atomically modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Shear modulus (TPa) Research summary

Talukdar and Mitra [55] 2010 MD (using Brenner's
bond order potential)
Ghavamian et al. [57] 2013 FEM (applying the classical
torsion and tensile tests)
Imani Yengejeh et al. [58] 2014 FEM
Imani Yengejeh et al. [59] 2014 FEM
Ghavamian et al. [61] 2015 FEM (computational
mechanics)
0.495e0.532
0.38e0.52 for zigzag CNT;
0.23e0.52 for armchair CNT
0.255e0.583
0.23 for thinner tube xed;
0.31 for wider tube xed
0.15e0.37
Representing the interaction of the in-plane CeC bond of an armchair
SWCNT under torsional loading for perfect and imperfect lattices
Investigating the shear behavior of homogeneous CNTs and obtaining
The Young's and shear moduli of the nanotubes
Numerically investigating the shear behavior of connected CNTs with 5
e7 pair defect and obtaining the twisting angle of straight hetero-
junctions
Evaluating the mechanical properties of atomically modied connected
CNTs
Simulating different types of CNT hybrids and investigating their
mechanical properties under the inuence of atomic imperfections;
presenting simple relation for the prediction of the inuence of the
defects

SWCNTs obviously depend on the length, the chirality, the tem-
perature and the initial structural defects of the tube. However,
they mainly focused on the behavior of SWCNTs and the investi-
gation concerning the mechanical properties of MWCNTs was not
fully conducted. In 2009, Parvaneh et al. [66] examined the inu-
ence of vacancy defects on the critical buckling loads and strains in
CNTs under axial compression via a novel structural model. Basi-
cally, their model was a combination of other structural models
designed to eliminate the deciencies inherent in individual ap-
proaches. They nally compared their results with those from MD
simulation. Later, in 2010, Kang et al. [67] employed both MD
simulation and FE analysis to investigate the buckling behavior of
IMJs under axial compression. They found that the critical
compressive strain is not sensitive to the strain rate of relatively low
range, but it exhibits a strong dependency on the strain rate under
high speed compression. Their results of both the MD simulations
and the FE analysis indicated that the critical compressive strain is
dependent upon the length, radial dimensions of the IMJs but
insensitive to the chirality of the IMJs. Ranjbartoreh and Wang [68]
employed a MD simulation to consider the critical buckling load,
pressure and strain of pristine and defected SWCNT under axial
compression. Furthermore, the effect of length, radius, chirality,
StoneeWales defect and single vacancy on buckling behavior of
SWCNTs has been investigated. Obtained results indicated that the
axial stability of SWCNT reduces due to topological defects. Gha-
vamian and Ochsner [69] analyzed the effect of the defects on the
structural stability of SWCNTs and MWCNTs in 2012. For this pur-
pose, they simulated two initial armchair and zigzag CNTs in their
perfect forms. Afterwards, they obtained the critical buckling loads
and examined the behavior of nanotubes. In the second phase,
three most likely atomic defects, that is, impurities, vacant sites and
introduced perturbations of the ideal geometry in different
amounts to the perfect CNTs were simulated. Finally, they investi-
gated the buckling behavior of imperfect CNTs as function of the
amount of defects. They mainly concentrated on the two basic
armchair and zigzag models, and did not focus on the stability of
chiral tubes. Poelma et al. [70] conducted a study based on
analytical continuum theory and MD simulation in order to
investigate the buckling behavior of SWCNTs and MWCNTs. Then,
they analyzed the effect of the vacancy defect position on the CNT
critical buckling load. Their nding showed that defects at the end
of the CNT and close to the middle of the CNT signicantly reduce
the critical buckling load and strain appears to be small. Seyyed
Fakhrabadi et al. [71] examined the elastic and buckling properties
of carbon nanocones with different dimensions including different
apex angles and lengths. In addition, they explored the critical
compressive forces of the axial buckling phenomenon of carbon
nanocones in detail. Their ndings indicated that with increasing
the lengths and apex angles of the carbon nanocones, the elastic
moduli and critical compressive forces decrease. After that, Li et al.
[72] performed MD simulations to investigate the compressive
behavior of IMJs at nite temperature, while CNTs were also studied
as reference based on their results. It was indicated that the strain
rate effect is negligible within relating low loading-rate range but
the critical strain increases signicantly under higher loading rate.
They also predicted that local deformation will be introduced at
higher environmental temperature. In addition, with increasing
tube length, the instability mode of the IMJs transfers from shell
buckling to column buckling and the critical aspect ratio is lower
than that of CNTs due to presence of the StoneeWales defects. Later
in 2014, Ziaee [73] studied the elastic buckling of atomically
modied SWCNTs under the transverse and axial compression
loading based on molecular structural mechanics. In his in-
vestigations, the effect of length, radius, loading ratio and the po-
sition of the vacancy defect on the buckling behavior of CNTs were
examined. It was found that the position of the pinhole-vacancy has
a signicant inuence on the critical buckling load. After that, Imani
Yengejeh et al. [74] proposed a novel study to investigate the
buckling behavior of connected CNTs with parallel longitudinal
axes. They simulated several hetero-junctions and their intimal
homogeneous armchair and zigzag CNTs and evaluated their
structural stability by comparing the rst critical buckling load of
each hetero-junction and its initial homogeneous CNTs. They
concluded that, rst, the behavior of homogeneous CNTs under the
cantilever boundary condition follows the assumption of the clas-
sical Euler equation. Second, the analytical solutions were in good
agreement with the FE simulation results. In addition, they showed
that the rst critical buckling load of hetero-junctions lies within
the value of the fundamental homogeneous CNT range. Their
investigation needed to be taken into deeper consideration.
Therefore, they continued their study and numerically investigated
the effect of atomic imperfections, e.g. perturbation, doping and
vacancy defects, on the structural stability of CNT hybrids [75]. They
simulated several connected homogeneous CNTs with parallel
longitudinal axes and with bending angles. Then, these tubes were
atomically modied and the effect of such defects was analyzed on
the structural stability of nanotube hybrids. Moreover, they
compared the buckling behavior of imperfect tubes with perfect
ones. Based on their results, it was concluded that the existence of
any type of atomic defects in the structure of nanotube hybrids lead
to a lower critical load and as a result, lower structural stability of
CNTs. Ghavamian and Ochsner [76] investigated the mechanical
properties of atomically defected CNTs in their investigations
where Young's and shear moduli and critical buckling load of
SWCNTs and MWCNTs were obtained. Based on their nding, it was
concluded that the mechanical behavior of CNTs is dependent on
the amount of impurities of these nanostructures. Recently in 2015,
Ansari et al. [77] investigated the mechanical properties and
 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107 101

buckling behavior of functionalized CNTs employing MD simula-
tions. Their results indicated that as the polymer weight percentage
increases, Young's modulus and critical buckling load increases
almost linearly for both regular and random polymers distribu-
tions, whereas critical strain decreases with different trends
depending on the type of polymer distribution. They nally illus-
trated the buckling mode shapes of the presented models. Ghava-
mian and Ochsner [78] continued their investigations and
evaluated the Young's and shear moduli and critical buckling loads
of different types of hetero-junction CNTs with the assumption of
linear-elastic deformation. They found that StoneeWales defect
reduces elastic and torsional strength of hetero-junction CNTs.
Furthermore, it was concluded that the highest critical buckling
loads belong to armchairearmchair hetero-junction CNT and the
lowest buckling strength was found with the hetero-junction
structures with armchair-zigzag connections. Table 3 provides an
overview on the most critical examinations for evaluating the
critical buckling load of atomically modied CNTs.
3.4. Vibrational behavior
In 2010, Filiz and Aydogdu [79] studied the axial vibration of
CNTs hetero-junctions applying nonlocal rod theory. They consid-
ered the CNTs with different lengths, chirality and diameters in the
hetero-junctions. It was revealed that by joining CNTs, good
vibrational properties are obtained by suitable selection of pa-
rameters. In 2011, Muc and Chwa [80] proposed an analytical
molecular structural mechanics model in order to derive longitu-
dinal and circumferential moduli of CNTs. Their approach was
based on the eigen-frequencies analysis of the proposed compu-
tational model. Applying the introduced model, they explained the
effect of CNTs geometry and structure on Young's moduli. Ebrahim
Zadeh et al. [81] investigated the inuence of vacancy defects on
the fundamental frequency of SWCNTs in 2012. They also studied
the relation between the aspect ratio and frequency of pure and
defected CNT with removing the carbon atoms of tubes. In addition,
the effect of varying the position of one defect in the length of the
nanotubes on the fundamental frequency was examined. According
to their ndings, it was revealed that the existence of vacancy de-
fects mostly affects the fundamental frequency of CNTs. Further-
more, by increasing the number of defects, the fundamental
frequency of CNTs will decrease. After that, in 2013, Ghavamian and
Ochsner [82] numerically investigated the natural frequency of
CNTs under the inuence of atomic defects. They simulated two
models of perfect zigzag and armchair CNTs based on the FEM.
After introducing atomic defects to the structure of perfect tubes,
the evaluated the vibrational properties of perfect and imperfect
CNTs. their results indicated that SWCNTs have a natural frequency
with a rather high value between 18.69 and 24.01 GHz. They also
concluded that the existence of atomic defects in the conguration
of CNTs leads to a lower value of natural frequency. Their investi-
gation needed to be explored to MWCNTs. Thus, they broadened
their study and examined the vibrational properties of atomically
defected SWCNTs and MWCNTs [83]. In their investigation, CNTs
from single to ve-walled were simulated in their perfect form.
Then, the vibrational behavior of these nano-structures was
investigated both analytically and computationally. In the next
step, three most likely and randomly scattered defects of different
amounts were introduced to the perfect structures and their nat-
ural frequencies were evaluated in order to investigate the impact
of these defects on the vibrational stability of CNTs. They nally
concluded that development of these types of defects in the
conguration of the tubes leads to a reduction in the vibrational
stability of CNTs. Espejel-Morales et al. [84] presented a systematic
density of mechanical properties of SWCNT, pristine and doped
with B or N. They applied the electron localization function, charge
density, electronic partial density of states and band structures to
investigate the impurity effects on the electronic structures. By
calculating the radial breathing mode, they analyzed the inuence
of impurities in the vibrational frequencies. Recently in 2014,
Maleki Moghadam et al. [85] explored the inuence of the Stone-
eWales defect on the fundamental frequency of SWCNTs using
molecular mechanics methods. Their ndings revealed that the
frequencies are dependent on boundary conditions, CNT length,
chirality and defect position. Their models showed different
behavior by introducing the number of defects. Shariati et al. [86]
investigated the effect of arrangement and distribution of defects
on the natural frequency of CNTs with respect to different chirality
and boundary conditions. They examined the inuence of vacancy
and StoneeWales defects on the vibrational behavior of CNTs. It
was shown that the gathered vacancy defects cause a reduction in
the fundamental frequency of the tubes, especially in the case of

Table 3
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of critical buckling load of atomically modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Critical buckling load (nN) Research summary

Xin et al. [62] 2007 MD (using dihedral 52 for armchair CNT and Studying the axial compression of both perfect and defective SWCNTs;
potential and the 55 for zigzag CNT buckling properties of CNTs depend on the length, the chirality and the initial
LennardeJones structural defects of the tube
potential)
Parvaneh et al. [63] 2009 Structural mechanics 50e84 for zigzag CNTs; Examining the inuence of vacancy defects on the critical buckling loads and
approach 33e95 for armchair CNTs strains in CNT under axial compression
Ranjbartoreh and 2011 MD 0.74e1.003 for armchair CNTs; Obtaining the critical buckling load, pressure and strain of pristine and
Wang [65] 0.329e0.365 For zigzag CNTs defected SWCNT under axial compression; the axial stability of SWCNT
reduces due to topological defects
Ghavamian and 2012 FEM 2.062e3.92 for SWCNTs; Analyzing the inuence of atomic defects on the structural stability of

Ochsner [66] 173.44e202.6 for Five-walled SWCNTs and MWCNTs.
CNTs
Seyyed Fakhrabadi 2012 Molecular mechanics 70e140 for different nanocones Exploring the elastic and buckling properties of carbon nanocones with
et al. [68] simulation different dimensions including various apex angles and lengths; by increasing
the lengths and apex angles of the carbon nanocones, the elastic moduli and
critical compressive forces decrease
Ziaee [70] 2014 Molecular structural 2.5e28 Studying the elastic buckling of atomically modied SWCNTs under the
mechanics transverse and axial compression; the position of the pinhole-vacancy has a
major effect on the critical buckling load
Ansari et al. [74] 2015 MD 10e80 Investigating the mechanical properties of functionalized CNTs; Young's
modulus and critical buckling increase linearly as the polymer weight
percentage increases
102 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
xex boundary condition. In addition, it was observed that the
effect of the rst vacancy defect is signicantly more than the rst
StoneeWales defect. Imani Yengejeh et al. [87] continued the pre-
vious studies and investigated the vibrational response of hetero-
junction CNTs with pentagon and heptagon pair defect. They ob-
tained the natural frequency of nanotube hybrids and also
compared them with those of initial homogeneous CNTs. They
pointed out that the natural frequency of hetero-junctions lies
within the value of their constituent CNTs. In addition, it was shown
that any change in the tube diameter will affect the natural fre-
quency of hetero-junctions and their fundamental homogeneous
tubes. Finally, they proved that the armchair CNTs are more stable
in their vibration due to possessing higher natural frequencies than
zigzag nanotubes. Georgantzinos et al. [88] developed an atomistic
structural mechanics approach to examine the effect of imperfec-
tions due to atom vacancy on the vibrational characteristics of
SWCNTs. The effect of vacancy defects on the vibrational behavior
was explored for different defect positions, nanotube diameters
and support conditions. According to their results, the natural fre-
quency is decreased as the size of imperfection increases. Table 4
identies the most inuential studies conducted for obtaining the
natural frequencies of atomically modied CNTs.
4. Research work on structural modication
A review concerning the mechanical properties of CNTs with
structural modications is presented in the following.
4.1. Axial stiffness
In 2004, Pantano et al. [89] presented an effective FE approach
for modeling the structure and the deformation of SWCNTs and
MWCNTs. First, they modeled individual tubes using shell ele-
ments, where a specic pairing of elastic properties and the me-
chanical thickness of the tube wall is identied to enable successful
modeling with a shell theory. Then, the incorporation and role of an
initial internal distributed stress through the thickness of the wall
were discussed. Finally, the effect of van der Waals forces, crucial in
MWCNTs and in tube/tube or tube/substrate interactions, was
simulated by the construction of special interaction elements. Their
approach was then applied to the bending of MWCNTs, and then
the deformed congurations were compared to corresponding
high-resolution images from experiments. Their results demon-
strated that the proposed FEM could provide a valuable tool for
studying the mechanical behavior of MWCNTs as single entities, as
well as their effectiveness as load-bearing entities in nano-
Table 4
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of natural frequency of atomically modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.
Researcher Year Method Natural frequency (GHz)
Ebrahim Zadeh 2012 Three-dimensional 78e82 for armchair CNTs;
et al. [78] FEM 84e87 for zigzag CNTs
Maleki Moghadam 2014 FEM (employing 45 for zigzag CNT;
et al. [82] Timoshenko beam 47.5 for armchair CNT
elements)
Shariati et al. [83] 2014 FEM (using non-linear 187e681
mass-spring model)
Imani Yengejeh 2014 FEM 8.47e42.89 for armchair CNTs;
et al. [84] 12.56e31.36 for zigzag CNTs
Georgantzinos 2014 Atomistic structural 105.5e702
et al. [85] mechanics approach
composite materials. After that, Wang [90] proposed the effective
in-plane stiffness and bending rigidity of armchair and zigzag CNTs
through the analysis of a representative volume element (RVE) of
the graphene layer via continuous elastic models. He also derived
the corresponding bending rigidity of CNTs by considering the
inversion contributing to the bending resistance of the graphene
sheets from a large deection analysis in the elastic plate model of
the CNT. His results indicated that the in-plane stiffness of zigzag
CNT is more sensitive to the size of the tube than that of armchair
nanotube. In addition, it was concluded that the effect of axial
deformation on the derivation of bending rigidity is more obvious
in armchair nanotubes than that in zigzag CNTs at bigger curvature
of bending. A few years later in 2009, Kuang and He [91] quanti-
tatively investigated the effect of chemical functionalization on the
axial Young's moduli of SWCNTs based on molecular mechanics
simulation. They obtained the axial Young's moduli of both func-
tionalized and nonfunctionalized SWCNTs. In addition, they
examined the inuence of the number and distribution density of
the sp3-hybridized carbon atoms and the radius and chirality of the
SWCNTs on Young's moduli. Based on their nding, it was indicated
that Young's moduli depends strongly on the chirality of the
SWCNTs and the distribution density of the sp3-hybridized atoms.
Khandoker et al. [92] reported the experimental tensile strength of
spinnable MWCNTs in 2011. Those experiments were conducted
applying a nano tensile testing stage inside a scanning electron
microscope (SEM). They used an atomic force transducer to mea-
sure the desired mechanical properties. They calculated the frac-
ture strength using the determined applied force and the diameter
of the CNT. It was nally shown that the tensile strength of the
tested spinnable CNTs were at least 20e90 GPa with a mean value
of 48 GPa considering a solid cross sectional area. After that, in
2012, Liu et al. [93] investigated the mechanical behavior of the
CNTs by using a generalized molecular structure mechanics
approach. Their nding revealed that the number of junctions
along the circumferential direction of the CNTs and length of the
constituent SWCNTs both have an obvious effect on the deforma-
tion process of the nanotubes. Moreover, they evaluated the size-
and shape-dependence of the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio
of these nanostructures by the generalized molecular structure
mechanics method. Later on, Rong et al. [94] presented a two-scale
damage mechanics model to investigate the effects of twisting on
the mechanical properties of CNTs. Their numerical ndings
demonstrated that the developed damage mechanics model can
effectively describe the elastic and plastic-like behavior of CNTs
during the tension process. Their results could be applied to guide
the mechanical twisting of CNTs to improve their properties and
Research summary
Investigating the vibrational behavior of SWCNTs under the inuence of
vacancy defects; deriving the relation between the aspect ratio and frequency of
pure and defected CNT
Exploring the effect of the StoneeWales defect on the natural Frequency of
SWCNTs; frequencies are dependent on boundary conditions, CNT length,
chirality and defect position
Investigating the effect of arrangement and distribution of defects on the natural
frequency of CNTs with respect to different chirality and boundary conditions;
the gathered vacancy defects cause a reduction in the fundamental frequency of
the tubes
Evaluating the vibrational behavior of hetero-junction CNTs with pentagon and
heptagon pair defect; the natural frequency of hetero-junctions lies within the
value of their constituent CNTs
Examining the inuence of atomic imperfections on the vibrational
characteristics of SWCNTs; the natural frequency is decreased as the size of
imperfection increases
 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
help optimize the mechanical performance of CNT-based materials.
Recently, Imani Yengejeh and Ochsner [95] examined the tensile
behavior of perfect and spiral congurations of CNTs. They pointed
out that any structural modication, spiral shape in particular, in
the structure of perfect tubes reduces the structural stiffness of the
CNTs. Furthermore, it was indicated that Young's modulus of per-
fect CNTs decreases by introducing spiral distortion. The most
critical investigations concerning the evaluation of the Young's
modulus of structurally modied CNTs are categorized in Table 5.
4.2. Torsional stiffness
In 2004, Wang and Wang [96] investigated the bending me-
chanical properties of CNTs. They applied an advanced nite
element analysis (FEA) to simulate the formation of rippling which
is the appearance of wavelike distortion on the inner arc of the bent
CNTs. A nonlinear bending momentecurvature relationship was
obtained, which indicated the tangential stiffness greatly decreases
when rippling appears. Their ndings could be used to explain the
phenomenon and conclusion of the resonant experiment
measuring the Young's modulus of CNTs. They continued their
investigation and dealt with the nonlinear momentecurvature
relationship during bending of nanotubes, and the effect of ripple
formation on the bending modulus in 2005 [97]. They nally
concluded that the rippling deformation can indeed result in the
fact that the effective bending modulus of CNTs decrease substan-
tially with increasing diameter. Their ndings would be helpful to
guide further experiments investigating the bending behavior of
CNTs. In 2006, elastic properties of SWCNTs were examined
experimentally and computationally [98]. The main concentration
was particularly paid on the evaluation of Young's and shear moduli
of SWCNT. It was pointed that within the linear regime, the Young's
and shear moduli of SWCNT have been established to be constant.
Later on, in 2010, Guo and Zhang [99] conducted a study to
investigate the bending stiffness of SWCNTs and some related is-
sues by the combined use of the molecular mechanics model and
the deformation mapping technique. In addition, they presented an
analytical expression for the bending stiffness of SWCNTs. It was
indicated that the bending stiffness of a SWCNT is approximately
proportional to the cube of its radius which agrees well to their
existing MD simulation and continuum theory based results. One of
the most important modied CNTs are X-junction tubes and the
investigation of the mechanical behavior of these nano-structures
is highly crucial. In 2010, Liu et al. [100] performed a MD simula-
tion to investigate the deformation behavior of ve types of X-
junctions made from ultrathin SWCNTs. According to their exper-
iments, if the junction is strong, as is the case with certain
Table 5
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of Young's modulus of structurally modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.
Researcher Year Method
Pantano et al. [86] 2004 FEM (continuum approach)
Wang [87] 2004 Continuum model (stretching
and rotating springs,
equivalent continuum plate)
Khandoker et al. [89] 2011 Nano tensile testing stage
Liu et al. [90] 2012 Molecular structure mechanics
Imani Yengejeh 2014 FEM
and Ochsner [92]
103
(3,3)e(3,3) junctions, then the bonds break at individual nano-
tubes, rather than at the junction region, and the original bonding
structures around the junctions remain. Nevertheless, for some
(3,3)e(3,3) junctions and X-junctions formed by (5,0)e(5,0) tubes,
the bonds at the junction region break and are reconstructed,
which results in the transformation of a 3D junction into a 2D type.
Afterwards, Jiang and Guo [101] presented an analytical study in
order to investigate the elastic properties of single-walled boron
nitride nanotubes via a molecular mechanics model. They derived
closed-formed expressions for Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and
surface shear modulus as functions of the nanotube diameter. Their
ndings were helix angle sensitive and comparable to those from
ab initio calculations. Recently in 2015, Imani Yengejeh and
Ochsner [102] simulated perfect and structurally modied CNTs
and examined their mechanical behavior through performing
torsional tensile tests. The tensile and shear behavior of imperfect
CNTs was numerically evaluated and compared with the behavior
of the perfect tubes. They gured out that the existence of any type
of imperfection in the conguration of CNTs leads to a lower tensile
and shear resistance of perfect tubes. For categorizing the most
critical examinations concerning the evaluation of the shear
modulus of structurally modied CNTs, Table 6 is presented in the
following.
4.3. Buckling behavior
In 2006, Houliara and Karamanos [103] focused on the struc-
tural stability of long uniformly pressurized thin elastic tubular
shells subjected to in-plane bending. They also examined the in-
uence of pressure as well as the effects of radius-to-thickness
ratio, initial curvature and initial ovality on the bifurcation
moment, curvature and the corresponding wavelength. In addition,
they demonstrated the local character of buckling in the circum-
ferential direction, especially for thin-walled tubes. Their obser-
vation motivated the development of a simplied analytical
formulation for tube bifurcation, which considers the presence of
pressure, initial curvature and ovality, and results in closed-form
expressions of very good accuracy, for tubes with relatively small
initial curvature. Later on, Mylvaganam et al. [104] investigated the
deformation mechanism of a SWCNT inn pure bending. They
applied the MD analysis and continuum mechanics characteriza-
tion together to achieve a deeper understanding. They found that at
a bending angle of 24 the CNT buckles locally, forming a kink in the
middle of the nanotube. They concluded that by increasing the
bending angle, the kink progresses along the nanotube and varies
its shape in both longitudinal and circumferential dimensions. They
also found that the kink deformation inuences the load bearing
Young's modulus (TPa) Research summary
4.84 Modeling individual tubes using shell elements; investigating the
inuence of van der Waals forces in MWCNTs
0.54e0.57 for armchair CNTs; Deriving the corresponding bending rigidity of CNTs by considering
0.2e0.8 for zigzag CNTs the inversion contributing to the bending resistance of the graphene
sheets; the in-plane stiffness of zigzag CNT is more sensitive to the
size of the tube than that of armchair nanotube
0.2e0.9 Reporting the experimental tensile strength of spinnable MWCNTs;
using an atomic force transducer to measure the desired mechanical
properties
2.4e2.35 Investigating the mechanical behavior of CNTs exploring the effect
of the deformation process of the nanotubes; evaluating the size-
and shape-dependence of the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio
1.05 for armchair CNT; Examining the tensile behavior of perfect and spiral nanotubes;
1.01 for zigzag CNT; structural modications reduce the stiffness of the CNTs
0.84e1.42 for chiral CNT
104 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107

Table 6
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of shear modulus of structurally modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Shear modulus (TPa) Research summary

Wang and Wang [93] 2004 FEM 0.2e0.8 Studying the bending mechanical properties of CNTs; obtaining a non-
linear bending momentecurvature relationship
Wang et al. [94] 2005 FEM 0.5e0.98 Dealing with the non-linear momentecurvature relationship during
bending of CNTs; the effective bending modulus of CNTs decrease
substantially with increasing diameter
To [95] 2006 FEM (employing the 0.47e0.475 Experimentally and computationally exploring the elastic properties of
classical theory of SWCNTs; within the linear regime, the Young's and shear moduli of
elasticity) SWCNT have been established to be constant
Guo and Zhang [96] 2010 Molecular mechanics 0.9e1.23 Investigating the behavior of CNTs and presenting an analytical
(the deformation expression for the bending stiffness of SWCNTs; bending stiffness of a
mapping techniques) SWCNT is approximately proportional to the cube of its radius
Jiang and Guo [96] 2011 Molecular mechanics 0.07e0.1 Deriving closed-formed expressions for Young's modulus, Poisson's
ratio and surface shear modulus as functions of the nanotube diameter
Imani Yengejeh 2015 FEM 0.09e0.64 for armchair CNTs; Simulating imperfect CNTs and studying their mechanical behavior; any

and Ochsner [99] 0.13e0.9 for zigzag CNTs type of imperfection reduces the tensile and shear resistance of perfect
tubes

capacity of the nanotube. The bending buckling behavior of
SWCNTs, double-walled CNT (DWCNTs) and MWCNT was investi-
gated in 2008, employing a modied FEM. Yao et al. [105] carried
out extensive simulation to investigate the buckling behavior of
these CNTs under bending deformation. They also established
explicit relationships between the critical bending buckling cur-
vature and the diameter of CNTs. In addition, they examined the
inuence of interlayer van der Waals forces on the bending prop-
erties of MWCNTs. Finally they investigated the effect of the layer
numbers on the buckling load and critical bending angle of
MWCNTs. In 2012, Silvestre [106] presented a study on the suit-
ability of shell models to access the buckling behavior of SWCNTs
under torsion. He pointed that there is a transitional aspect ratio
(length-to-diameter ratio) that separates the group of short CNTs,
mostly inuenced by end conditions, from the group of long CNTs,
mostly inuenced by wrapping deformation. Recently in 2015,
Imani Yengejeh et al. [107] simulated several types of SWCNTs,
DWCNT and MWCNTs with perfect and structurally modied form
and investigated their buckling response. In the case of imperfect
tubes, they introduced geometrical modications such as twisting
angle and distortion along the longitudinal and radial axes to the
structure of CNTs. They concluded that the rst critical buckling
load of both perfect armchair and zigzag CNTs increases by
increasing the tube diameter. Furthermore, it was shown that by
increasing the length of the tubes, the critical buckling load of the
tubes reduces dramatically while addition of further walls in-
creases the critical buckling load and structural stability of CNTs.
They continued their study and investigated the buckling behavior
of curved tubes with bending angle [108]. They also compared both
analytical and computational results in the case of straight CNTs.
They concluded that the structural stability of curved CNTs is much
lower than straight tubes. Nevertheless, it was more highlighted in
the case of zigzag and armchair CNTs with higher chirality. In order
to highlight the most critical investigations for obtaining the critical
buckling load of structurally modied CNTs, the following Table 7 is
presented.
4.4. Vibrational behavior
In 2008, Kahaly and Waghmare [109] investigated the vibration
response of SWCNTs. By obtaining the correlation between vibra-
tional modes of a graphene sheet and of the nanotube, they found
out that rolling of the sheet results in mixing between modes and
changes in vibrational spectrum of graphene. They concluded that
the radial breathing mode softens with decreasing curvature. Later
in 2009, Hashemnia et al. [110] examined the vibrational behavior of
single-layered graphene sheets and SWCNTs with different bound-
ary conditions. They determined the fundamental frequency by
means of molecular structural mechanics method. They presented
their results as diagrams starting fundamental frequencies of CNTs
and graphene sheets with respect to aspect ratios. Their ndings
indicated that the fundamental frequency decreases as the aspect
ratio increases. Therefore, it is preferred to use nanotubes and gra-
phene sheets with lower aspect ratios for dynamic applications in
order to prevent resonance and dynamic change. Mayoof and
Hawwa [111] expanded the previous investigations and studied the
nonlinear vibration of a CNT with waviness along its axis. They also
analyzed the dynamic response of the resonator in the context of the
bifurcation theory. In 2010, Xia and Wang [112] explored the vi-
bration characteristics of uid-conveying CNTs with curved longi-
tudinal shape. Applying existence investigations, they obtained the
natural frequencies of curved CNTs and compared with those of

Table 7
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of critical buckling load of structurally modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Critical buckling load (nN) Research summary

Houliara and 2006 FEM (detecting bifurcation 0.2e0.9 Concentrating on the structural stability of long uniformly pressurized
Karamanos [100] on the pre-buckling thin elastic tubular shells; motivating the development of a simplied
ovalization equilibrium analytical formulation for tube bifurcation, which considers the
path) presence of pressure, initial curvature and ovality, and results in closed-
form expressions of very good accuracy, for tubes with relatively small
initial curvature
Imani Yengejeh 2015 FEM 0.122e17.3 for armchair CNTs; Simulating geometrical modied CNTs and evaluating the stiffness
et al. [104] 0.588e3.34 for zigzag CNTs change for different modications; combined loading lead to reduced
stiffness value for SWCNTs and MWCNTs
Imani Yengejeh 2015 FEM 0.172e15.92 for armchair CNTs; Investigating the buckling behavior of curved CNTs; comparing the
et al. [105] 0.405e13.87 for zigzag CNTs analytical and computational results; the structural stability of curved
CNTs is much lower than straight tubes
 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107 105

straight tubes. Their nding revealed that CNTs with circular-curved
longitudinal shape are unconditionally stable even for a system with
sufciently high ow velocity. Later in 2012, Seyyed Fakhabadi et al.
[113] examined the vibrational behavior of two and three junctioned
CNTs with different geometry and boundary conditions. They car-
ried out the MD approach to the modal analysis of the mentioned
nano-structures and the presented results covered the natural fre-
quencies and their corresponding mode shapes. In addition, they
discussed the natural frequencies of the three junctioned CNTs with
different lengths and diameters and various boundary conditions.
Mehdipour et al. [114] employed continuum mechanics and an
elastic beam model to investigate the effect of the curvature or
waviness of the CNT on the nonlinear frequency. Furthermore, they
obtained the amplitude frequency response curves of the nonlinear
free vibration for a curved SWCNT. Finally, they examined the in-
uence of shear foundation modulus, surrounding elastic medium,
radius and length of the curved CNT on the amplitude frequency
response characteristics. They concluded that the combined effects
of waviness and stretching nonlinearity on the nonlinear frequency
of the curved SWCNT with a small outer radius were larger than the
straight one. In 2014, Mohammadi et al. [115] conducted an inves-
tigation of a nanobeam with geometrical imperfections that is
embedded in an elastic foundation. They also presented the exact
post-buckling solution for both the straight and curved nanobeam.
Their results indicated that the bifurcation diagram of a curved
nanobeam with initial sinusoidal conguration is similar that of a
straight nanobeam in its nearest buckling mode. Further in-
vestigations were conducted by Imani Yengejeh et al. [116] where
the vibrational behavior of several types of SWCNTs was investi-
gated numerically in 2014. They introduced bending angles to the
conguration of CNTs and obtained their eigen-modes and eigen-
frequencies of these deformed tubes. It was shown that the natu-
ral frequency of CNTs with higher chirality decreases via introducing
bending angles. Nevertheless, the inuence of this structural
modication on the natural frequency of smaller diameter CNTs was
almost negligible. They expanded their investigation and examined
the impact of other structural imperfection, i.e. twisting and
distortion, on the vibrational response of CNTs [117]. They intro-
duced three kinds of structural modications, i.e. twisting angle, Z-
distortion along the longitudinal axis and XY-distortion along the
radial axis, to the conguration of the models. Afterwards, they
evaluated the natural frequencies of the CNTs and compared with
those of the perfect tubes. They found that such macroscopic
modications reduce the natural frequency and, as a result, lower
vibrational stability of CNTs. However, it was pointed that the trend
was more visible for the nanotubes with higher chirality. Amjadi-
pour et al. [118] investigated the vibrational behavior of defective
curved CNTs based on MD simulations. They examined the effect of
curvature, vacancy defect and aspect ratio on natural frequency of
SWCNTs. Their results showed that critical waviness is sensitive to
the aspect ratio and indicated that by increasing the length of
SWCNTs, the critical waviness ratio increases.
Recently in 2015, Imani Yengejeh et al. [24] provided a
comprehensive categorization of CNTs and other conguration of
nano-structures in terms of representative illustrations consisting
of CNTs and their atomic as well as macroscopic modications. They
introduced the characterizations of CNTs and their modications by
making appropriate gures. In addition, they addressed the mate-
rials and geometric properties of these nano-congurations. To
highlight the most inuential studies for examining the vibrational
behavior of structurally modied CNTs, Table 8 is presented in the
following.
5. Conclusion
This review presents numerous investigations in the existing
literature in terms of static, buckling, and free vibration analysis of
structural and atomically modied CNTs. An effort has been made
for including all important contributions to this eld of research
and to highlight the most prominent literature available for me-
chanical investigation of imperfect CNTs. In addition, a compre-
hensive categorization of modied CNTs is provided. It was
addressed that these modications divided into two major cate-
gories. Atomic modications, e.g. perturbation, doping and carbon
vacancy which impure the structure of the tubes. The other type of
imperfection is called structural or macroscopic modication, such
as curvature, twisting and spiral deformation which affects the
mechanical behavior of the CNTs. All mentioned studies covered
the investigation of mechanical properties of modied CNTs,
numerically, computationally as well as experimentally which
allowed a realistic prediction of the mechanical behavior of
defected CNTs in a closer form to those found in reality. It was

Table 8
Highlighted studies concerning the prediction of natural frequency of structurally modied CNTs using different theoretical and experimental approaches.

Researcher Year Method Natural frequency (GHz) Research summary

Mayoof and 2009 Continuum mechanics 18e80 Studying the nonlinear vibration of a CNT with waviness along its
Hawwa [108] (bifurcation theory) axis; analyzing the dynamic response of the resonator in the context
of the bifurcation theory
Xia and Wang [109] 2010 Developing a nonlocal 3e14 Exploring the vibration characteristics of uid-conveying CNTs with
EulereBernoulli beam curved longitudinal shape; obtaining the natural frequencies of
model (using a transfer curved CNTs and compared with those of straight tubes; CNTs with
matrix method) circular-curved longitudinal shape are unconditionally stable
Seyyed Fakhabadi 2012 Molecular mechanics 12.6e13.3 Investigating the vibrational behavior of two and three junctioned
et al. [110] CNTs with different geometry and boundary conditions; exploring
the natural frequencies of the three junctioned CNTs with different
lengths and diameters
Imani Yengejeh 2014 FEM 8.47e42.89 for armchair CNTs; Introducing bending angles to the conguration of CNTs and
et al. [113] 12.56e31.36 for zigzag CNTs obtaining their eigen-modes and eigen-frequencies; the natural
frequency of CNTs with higher chirality decreases via introducing
bending angles
Imani Yengejeh 2015 FEM 10.01e41.42 for armchair CNTs; Exploring the impact of structural imperfection, i.e. twisting and

and Ochsner [114] 13.26e30.06 for zigzag CNTs distortion, on the vibrational response of CNTs; macroscopic
modications reduce the natural frequency and, as a result, lower
vibrational stability of CNTs
Amjadipour et al. [115] 2015 MD 25e200 Examining the effect of curvature, vacancy defect and aspect ratio
on natural frequency of SWCNTs; critical waviness is sensitive to the
aspect ratio; by increasing the length of SWCNTs, the critical
waviness ratio increases
106 S. Imani Yengejeh et al. / Composites Part B 86 (2016) 95e107
pointed that any type of defect and impurities, either atomic or
structural modication, affects the mechanical behavior of nano-
tubes and reduces the stiffness and structural stability, as well as
vibrational response of these nano-structures. Among all types of
microscopic modications, vacancy defect have the most signi-
cant inuence on the mechanical behavior of these carbon nano-
materials. The development of pinhole vacancies severely reduces
the structural stability of nanostructures. If the progress in this eld
of science maintains pace, this practical and interesting research
area is likely to contribute to a realistic condition for the world of
science and technology at large.
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