Abstract
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have the remarkable structural and mechanical properties. Kusunoki et al. reported that CNTs with high-density and well-alignment were formed vertically on silicon carbide (SiC). This CNT film on SiC substrate could be used for tribomaterial because CNTs have high bendability and Young's modulus. To get the design guide as tribomaterial, the presumption of real contact area was needed by adhesive theory of friction. As each CNT formed vertically on SiC, the film could not be ascribed to contact as the continuum model. It is important to derive a function that presumes real contact area when some objects contact and squeeze CNTs. Therefore, we proposed a new contact model that considers large deformation of CNT as many beams. Load-displacement curve of CNTs film was obtained during nano-indentation. After the comparing between the model and experimental results, it can be concluded that the model can explain the behavior of CNT film during nano-indentation.
