Mechanical instabilities of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes under cyclic axial compression.

Individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes with a range of aspect ratios are subjected to cyclic axial compression to large strains using atomic force microscopy. Distinct elastic buckling and post-buckling phenomena are observed reproducibly and are ascribed to Euler, asymmetric shell buckling (i.e., kinking), and symmetric shell buckling. These show agreement with continuum theories that range from approximate to remarkable. Shell buckling yields reproducible incremental negative stiffness in the initial post-buckled regime.