Buckling instability of zinc oxide nanobelts under uniaxial compression investigated using molecular dynamics

Molecular dynamics is used to simulate the phase transformation and load curves of ZnO nanobelts during a uniaxial compression process. The Buckingham-type interatomic potential is modeled to simulate the interaction between Zn and O atoms. This study focuses on the stretch process parameters, including the stretch rate and substrate temperature. Under uniaxial compressive loading, a phase transformation occurs and the critical buckling stress is computed. From the simulation results, the load-carrying capacity of a nanobelt decreases significantly with increasing slenderness ratio L/r. The buckling stress decreases with increasing substrate temperature.