Surface stress on the effective Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of isotropic nanowires under tensile load

Abstract

A method based on conventional finite element analysis is proposed to simulate nanowire tensile behavior. The surface elasticity in nanowires is converted to equivalent Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio for realizing the finite element analysis. The stress and strain distribution of tensile nanowires from the finite element analysis is presented, as well as the effective Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Good agreement has been found between the finite element analysis and the analytical results from other researchers. Moreover, a simple formula for the effective Young’s modulus is derived. This study provides a new approach to investigate the effect of surface stress on tensile nanowires.