Interlayer shear effect on multilayer graphene subjected to bending

The effect of interlayer shear on bending property of multi-layer graphene is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Interlayer shear modulus is three orders lower than in-plane Young's modulus, thus the bending behavior is dominated by interlayer shear. Continuum theory and atomistic simulations show that bending rigidity is proportional to layer number when the layer number exceeds 5. The small difference of these two proportional constants results from the stacking pattern, and turbostratic stacking decreases the interlayer shear modulus. For layer number smaller than 4, intrinsic ripples also play an important role and further decrease the interlayer shear modulus. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3693390]