Analysis of longitudinal vibration band gaps in periodic carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions using finite element method

The longitudinal vibration band gaps in periodic (n, 0)–(2n, 0) single-walled carbon nanotube(SWCNT) intramolecular junctions(IMJs) are investigated based on the finite element calculation. The frequency ranges of band gaps in frequency response functions(FRF) simulated by finite element method (FEM) show good agreement with those in band structure obtained by simple spring-mass model. Moreover, a comprehensive parametric study is also conducted to highlight the influences of the geometrical parameters such as the size of unit cell, component ratios of the IMJs and diameters of the CNT segments as well as geometric imperfections on the first band gap. The results show that the frequency ranges and the bandwidth of the gap strongly depend on the geometrical parameters. Furthermore, the influences of geometrical parameters on gaps are nuanced in IMJs with different topological defects. The existence of vibration band gaps in periodic IMJs lends a new insight into the development of CNT-based nano-devices in application of vibration isolation.