Study on wrinkling in graphene under gradient shear by molecular dynamics simulation

The formation and development mechanisms of wrinkles in a rectangular single layer graphene sheet (SLGS) subjected to in-plane gradient shear displacements are investigated through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The growth and propagation process of the SLGS wrinkling is elucidated by the developing atomic out-of-plane displacements of the key atoms. It reveals that the shape of SLGS and loading condition have a significant effect on the SLGS wrinkling deformation. The dependences of the wrinkling amplitude, wavelength, and out-of-plane displacements on the applied gradient shear displacements are obtained with MD simulations. The effects of aspect ratio, temperature, and loading grads on wrinkling in graphene are also studied.