Linear vibrations of triple-walled carbon nanotubes

In this paper, the linear vibrations of triple-walled carbon nanotubes (TWNTs) are investigated. A multiple elastic thin shell model is applied. The TWNT dynamics is studied in the framework of the Sanders–Koiter shell theory. The van der Waals interaction between any two layers of the TWNT is modelled by a radius-dependent function. The shell deformation is described in terms of longitudinal, tangential and radial displacements. Simply supported, clamped and free boundary conditions are applied. The three displacement fields are expanded by means of a double mixed series based on Chebyshev polynomials for the longitudinal variable and harmonic functions for the tangential variable. The Rayleigh–Ritz method is applied to obtain approximate natural frequencies and mode shapes. The present model is validated in the linear field by means of comparisons with data from the literature. This study is focused on determining the effect of geometry and boundary conditions on the natural frequencies of TWNTs.