Molecular dynamics study of a CNT–buckyball-enabled energy absorption system

Abstract

An energy absorption system (EAS) composed of a carbon nanotube (CNT) with nested buckyballs is put forward for energy dissipation during impact owing to the outstanding mechanical properties of both CNTs and buckyballs. Here we implement a series of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the energy absorption capabilities of several different EASs based on a variety of design parameters. For example, the effects of impact energy, the number of nested buckyballs, and of the size of the buckyballs are analyzed to optimize the energy absorption capability of the EASs by tuning the relevant design parameters. Simulation results indicate that the energy absorption capability of the EAS is closely associated with the deformation characteristics of the confined buckyballs. A low impact energy leads to recoverable deformation of the buckyballs and the dissipated energy is mainly converted to thermal energy. However, a high impact energy yields non-recoverable deformation of buckyballs and thus the energy dissipation is dominated by the strain energy of the EAS. The simulation results also reveal that there exists an optimal value of the number of buckyballs for an EAS under a certain impact energy. Larger buckyballs are able to deform to a larger degree yet also need less impact energy to induce plastic deformation, therefore performing with a better overall energy absorption ability. Overall, the EAS in this study shows a remarkably high energy absorption density of 2 kJ g(-1), it is a promising candidate for mitigating impact energy and sheds light on the research of buckyball-filled CNTs for other applications.

Effect of CNTs Additives on the Energy Balance of Carbon/Epoxy Nanocomposites during Dynamic Compression Test

“…Their study revealed that this bucky paper showed extremely high kinetic energy dissipation efficiency within its elastic limit, and that this depended directly on the impact velocity. In addition, Chen et al [28] also studied the energy dissipation behavior of CNTs with nested bucky balls during impact using a dynamic simulation model. The simulated results showed that dissipated energy was mostly converted into the thermal energy at low velocity impact while bucky balls showed permanent strain deformation at high velocity impact; thus, dissipation energy was dominated by the strain energy of the energy absorption system.…”

Energy dissipation capability and impact response of carbon nanotube buckypaper: A coarse-grained molecular dynamics study

“…[36][37][38] found that buckyballs with larger size tend to yield non-recoverable deformation which assists energy dissipation thanks to the unique deformation characteristic dependent on the buckyball size under dynamic loadings. An energy absorption system of buckyballs confined by a CNT was put forward and found to have remarkable energy absorption density of 2000 J g ⁄ [39]. CNT-based nanocomposites, such as aligned CNT/epoxy nanocomposites, have improved properties beneficial for energy dissipation by increasing CNT volume fraction and CNT aspect ratio [40][41][42][43].…”

Effect of CNT length and structural density on viscoelasticity of buckypaper: A coarse-grained molecular dynamics study

“…Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown unprecedented thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties due to their exceptionally light weight, large surface area, and strong C-C bonds when compared with traditional materials [1][2][3][4]. Hence, CNT network-based materials have attracted widespread attention in the areas of technology research and manufacture.…”