Effects of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical properties of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets

The effect of temperature and strain rate on mechanical properties remains an open topic in research of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheets. To examine these fundamental issues we have performed molecular dynamics simulations to record the stress–strain curves in tensile tests and measure Young's modulus, fracture strength and fracture strain in armchair and zigzag directions. Comparing the results obtained at different temperatures and strain rates we have quantified the effects of the two factors on the tensile properties of the h-BN nanosheets. The influence of crystal orientation is also examined in the present study. It is found that the h-BN nanosheets are basically an anisotropic material whose tensile properties vary substantially with temperature and strain rate. In particular, a yielding platform is observed for the h-BN nanomaterial at relatively low temperature. (paper)