Parametric study of elastic mechanical properties of graphene nanoribbons by a new structural mechanics approach

The elastic mechanical behavior of different sized zigzag and armchair graphene nanoribbons is numerically investigated and predicted using a new structural mechanic approach. According to the proposed method three dimensional, two nodded spring elements of three degrees of freedom per node, which remain straight when deformed, are combined in order to simulate realistically the interatomic interactions appearing within the graphene nanostructure. The computed variations of mechanical elastic properties are fitted by appropriate size dependent non-linear functions of two independent variables i.e. length and width, in order to express the analytical rules governing the elastic behavior of graphene nanoribbons within specific dimension limits. The numerical results, which are compared with corresponding data given in the open literature, demonstrate thoroughly the important influence of size and chirality of a narrow graphene monolayer on its elastic behavior. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.