Energy Dissipation Analysis of Defected Carbon Nanotube Oscillators

Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the energy dissipation of carbon nanotube oscillators with various defects. It is found that the Stone-Wales (SW) defects induce the largest energy dissipation, followed by the sp(3)-hybridized defects in three rings and in one row. The sp(3)-hybridized SW defects, however, result in the smallest energy dissipation among all the defected oscillators. These reductions in energy are central to the oscillatory instability of the nanotube oscillators. The energy dissipation mechanisms were discussed and changes in energy profiles were analyzed.