Vibrational analysis of single-layered silicon carbide nanosheets and single-walled silicon carbide nanotubes using nanoscale finite element method

Abstract

A three-dimensional finite element model has been used here to study the vibrational behavior of silicon carbide nanosheets and nanotubes. The bonds of hexagonal lattices of SiC nanosheets have been modeled by structural beam elements, and at the corners, mass elements are placed instead of Si and C atoms. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations are performed to verify the finite element model. Comparing the results of finite element model and molecular dynamics simulations, it is concluded that the utilized approach can predict the results of molecular dynamics simulations with a reasonable accuracy. It is observed that the atomic structure does not significantly affect the vibrational behavior of nanosheets. Besides, increasing the size of nanosheet results in decreasing the effect of geometry variation. As the aspect ratio of nanotubes increases, the effects of boundary conditions and length diminish so that the frequency envelopes tend to converge.