Coupled effects of mechanical and electronic behavior in single walled carbon nanotubes are investigated by using quantum mechanics and quantum molecular dynamics.It is found that external applied electric fields can cause charge polarization and significant geometric deformation in metallic and semi-metallic carbon nanotubes.The electric induced axial tension ratio can be up to 10% in the armchair tube and 8.5% in the zigzag tube.Pure external applied load has little effect on charge distribution,but indeed influences the energy gap.Tensile load leads to a narrower energy gap and compressive load increases the gap.When the CNT is tensioned under an external electric field,the effect of mechanical load on the electronic structures of the CNT becomes significant,and the applied electric field may reduce the critical mechanical tension load remarkably.Size effects are also discussed.
By using the complex variables function theory, a plane strain electro-elastic analysis was performed on a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material containing an elliptic elastic inclusion, which is subjected to a uniform stress field and a uniform electric displacement loads at infinity. Based on the present finite element results and some related theoretical solutions, an acceptable conjecture was found that the stress field is constant inside the elastic inclusion. The stress field solutions in the piezoelectric matrix and the elastic inclusion were obtained in the form of complex potentials based on the impermeable electric boundary conditions.
