An attempt was made to explain the discrepancies between theoretical and experimental values of mechanical properties for carbon nanotubes. In the numerical analysis, pristine and defective carbon nanotubes were taken into account in order to find how the presence of defects affected the mechanical properties of the analyzed structures. The imperfect carbon nanotube was modeled as a structure with one missing carbon atom that introduced five- and nine-membered rings into the perfect configuration of hexagon arrays.

Influence of Vacancy Defects on the Mechanical Behavior and Properties of Carbon Nanotubes. M.Chwał: Procedia Engineering, 2011, 10, 1579-84