Buckling behaviors of cantilevered open-tip carbon nanocones subjected to transverse loading: A molecular dynamics study

This study used molecular dynamics simulations to investigate buckling behaviors of cantilevered open-tip carbon nanocones (CNCs) subjected to transverse loading. Some interesting findings were attained in the study. The critical angles of the CNCs were observed to decrease with increases in the temperature, cone length, top diameter, and apex angle of the CNCs. While the critical loads of the CNCs were found to decrease with increasing temperature and cone length, they were noted to increase with enlargement of the top diameter and apex angle. The observed temperature effects were more evident as the cone length increased. In addition, each of the studied CNCs exhibited a near-bottom-indented buckling morphology at the examined temperatures, which is quite different from a top-center-indented buckling morphology of an open-tip CNC under pure bending. Accordingly, these results may provide beneficial information to the designs of ultra-sensitive mass detectors using CNCs.