A self-consistent set of relationships is developed for the physical properties of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCN) and their hexagonal arrays as a function of the chiral vector integer pair, (n,m). Properties include effective radius, density, principal Young’s modulus, and specific Young’s modulus. Relationships between weight fraction and volume fraction of SWCN and their arrays are developed for the full range of polymeric mixtures. Examples are presented for various values of polymer density and for multiple SWCN diameters.

Co-authored with: S.J.V. Frankland (ICASE, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA), Pascal Hubert (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada), and Erik Saether (NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA).

This research was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC-1-02002 and Contract No. NAS1-97046 while S. J. V. Frankland was in residence at ICASE, NASA Langley Research Center.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• R. Byron Pipes, S. J. V. Franklandb, Pascal Hubertc, Erik Saetherd, Self-Consistent Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Hexagonal Arrays as Composite Reinforcements, Composites Science and Technology, Volume 63, Issue 10, August 2003, Pages 1349-1358.

• R. Byron Pipes (2010), "Self-Consistent Properties of Carbon Nanotubes and Hexagonal Arrays as Composite Reinforcements," https://nanohub.org/resources/8933.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. carbon nanotubes
2. chirality
3. material properties
4. materials science
5. nanotubes
6. polymers
7. single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT)
8. Young’s modulus