Scaling properties of nanotube-based macroscopic cables through multiscale numerical simulations

Carbon nanotube (CNT) bundles are extremely interesting for engineering applications because of their density, elastic modulus, and mechanical strength. In particular, ambitious structures such as space elevators or superbridges (i.e., kilometer-long suspended bridges) could be conceived by exploiting the unique properties provided by CNT technology.Many experimental studies exist for the evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of CNTs or CNT yarns; however, numerical studies clearly become indispensable when predictions are to be made for full-scale structures.To address these issues, we describe a numerical procedure based on a hierarchical fiber-bundle model (HFBM) approach specifically developed to carry out multiscale simulations for CNT-based cables and estimate relevant mechanical characteristics such as Young´s modulus, strength or released energy during damage progression, and evaluate the scaling of these properties with cable size.