Compressive and tensile behaviors of carbon and boron nitride nanotubes

In order to systematically investigate compressive and tensile behaviors of the carbon nanotubes and boron nitride nanotubes, classical molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to examine the deformation patterns under compression and tension. The axial stress and strain energy per atom are obtained to study the mechanical properties of the nanotubes. From the computational analyses, it is noted that chirality is one of the main factors affecting the behavior of the nanotubes, and the nanotubes in different materials but with the same chirality have similar deformation patterns. The axial stress and strain energy per atom can also reflect the behavior of the tubes.