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Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering

Esmaeal Ghavanloo
Hashem Rafii-Tabar
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh

Computational
Continuum Mechanics of
Nanoscopic Structures
Nonlocal Elasticity Approaches
Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering

Series Editors
Seung-Bok Choi, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea
Haibin Duan, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing,
P.R. China
Yili Fu, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, P.R. China
Carlos Guardiola, Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain
Jian-Qiao Sun, University of California, Merced, USA
Young W. Kwon, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
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Esmaeal Ghavanloo Hashem Rafii-Tabar
• •

Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh

Computational Continuum
Mechanics of Nanoscopic
Structures
Nonlocal Elasticity Approaches

123
Esmaeal Ghavanloo Hashem Rafii-Tabar
School of Mechanical Engineering Department of Medical Physics
Shiraz University and Biomedical Engineering
Shiraz, Iran Shahid Beheshti University
of Medical Sciences
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh Tehran, Iran
School of Mechanical Engineering
The Physics Branch
Shiraz University
Iran Academy of Sciences
Shiraz, Iran
Tehran, Iran

ISSN 2195-9862 ISSN 2195-9870 (electronic)

Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering
ISBN 978-3-030-11649-1 ISBN 978-3-030-11650-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11650-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018967439

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
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To my wife, Nazanin, for all her
encouragement, patience and understanding
and my Parents for their unconditional
support
Esmaeal Ghavanloo

To my mentor Richard Feynman who was the

first to raise the possibility of manipulating
single atoms, an idea that eventually led to
the emergence of the fields of nanoscience
and nanotechnology
Hashem Rafii-Tabar

To my father, wife and children for their

unwavering support and to the memory of my
mother for her love and encouragement
Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh
Preface

Following the enlightening talk by Richard Feynman in 1959 suggesting that the
manipulation of single atoms is not contradicted by the laws of physics, a new
perspective was ushered in scientific research in 1970s, namely, the transition from
micro- and macro-scale science and technology to nanoscale science and technol-
ogy, since many exotic phenomena both in non-living and living systems emerge
and manifest themselves at this scale. The mechanical properties of materials at the
nanoscale are very different from the properties of the same materials at the micro-
and macro-scale. A deep understanding of the mechanical characteristics of
nanoscopic structures is of great importance from both pure and applied perspec-
tives. Owing to the complexity of performing accurate experimental measurements
at nanoscopic scales, and also the high computational costs associated with
quantum-mechanical-based and atomistic-based computer modelling and simula-
tions, an alternative and very accurate methodology, namely, computational con-
tinuum mechanics-based modelling of the nanoscopic structures, has attracted a
significant amount of attention worldwide. Over the past decade, computational
modelling based on the use of nonlocal continuum theories has emerged as a very
promising approach whereby, among other things, size dependency of the material
properties is accommodated into the standard local continuum theory. Therefore,
the nonlocal elasticity models play an important role in the study of the properties
of nanoscopic structures that have not been fully explored or even addressed in the
past. In fact, the nonlocal elasticity theory has become a great investigative tool in
both basic and applied research in nanoscience and nanoengineering. The nonlocal
elasticity theory-based models are currently being developed rapidly and are con-
tinuously being updated and modified. Notwithstanding its importance, there are
only a few books dealing with this subject and its applications, particularly to
nanoscience, that are simple enough for a wide range of audiences to follow, who
would like to learn the nonlocal elasticity models for analysis of low-dimensional
structures.

vii
viii Preface

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the nonlocal elasticity theory

as applied to the prediction of the mechanical characteristics of various types of
nanoscopic structures having different morphologies and functional behaviours. In
writing the book, we pursued three main objectives:
(1) To introduce the fundamental notions and advanced concepts of the nonlocal
elasticity approaches.
(2) To present the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical tools to apply the
nonlocal elasticity theory to the study of the mechanical behaviour of nano-
scopic structures.
(3) To provide in-depth discussions of the vast and rapidly expanding research
works pertinent to the nonlocal modelling of the nanoscopic structures.
The topics covered in this book are such that we have assumed that the reader
has a background in continuum mechanics and university-level mathematics.
However, we have attempted to provide an easy-to-follow description of the fun-
damental theories so as to make the pertinent research materials accessible to as a
wide community as possible.
This book is mainly written for practising scientists. The typical audience of this
book could include scientists in the fields of computational condensed matter
physics, computational materials science, computational nanoscience and nan-
otechnology, and nanomechanics. By providing enough details, it can also be useful
for senior undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. students, as well as practicing
engineers. We hope that all the readers will gain a good understanding of the
subject as they explore the pages of this book. We believe that there still exist a
wide variety of new, unexplored areas of research within the nonlocal modelling of
nanoscopic structures.
Finally, it should be noted that the completion of this book would not have been
possible without the patient and support of our families and friends. Their under-
standing and sacrifices are greatly appreciated.

Shiraz, Iran Esmaeal Ghavanloo

Tehran, Iran Hashem Rafii-Tabar
Shiraz, Iran Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh
November 2018
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Part I
2 Fundamental Tenets of Nanomechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.1 Carbon-Based Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.2 Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.3 Nanowires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.4 Biological Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Techniques for Modelling Mechanical Characteristics
of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2.1 Atomistic-Based Modelling Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.2 Continuum Modelling Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.3 Multiscale Simulation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.3 Mechanical Behaviour of Nanoscopic Structures: Pertinent
Definitions and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 32
2.3.1 Bending Behaviour of One-Dimensional
Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.2 Buckling Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.3 Vibrational Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3 Fundamental Notions from Classical Continuum Mechanics . . . . . 41
3.1 Displacement and Strain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.1 Strain Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.1.2 Principal Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.1.3 Spherical and Deviatoric Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

ix
x Contents

3.1.4 Compatibility Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.1.5 Plane Strain Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2 Stress Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.1 Concept of Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.2.2 Stress on an Arbitrary Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.2.3 Principal Axes of Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2.4 Hydrostatic and Deviatoric Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.3 Constitutive Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.3.1 Generalized Hooke’s Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.3.2 Material Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.4 Governing Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.1 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.2 Navier Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.5 Elastic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4 Essential Concepts from Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.1 Nonlocality and Nonlocal Averaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.2 Spatial Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.2.1 Properties of Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.2.2 Different Types of Nonlocal Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4.2.3 Two-Phase Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4.3 Gradient-Based Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.3.1 Green’s Function Kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.3.2 Alternative Derivation of Gradient-Based
Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.4 Laplacian of the Stress Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.4.1 Cylindrical Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.4.2 Spherical Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4.5 Nonlocal Anisotropic Elasticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.6 Nonlocal Kernels in a Finite Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5 Nonlocal Modelling of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1 Nonlocal Beam Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1.1 Nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli Beam Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.1.2 Nonlocal Timoshenko Beam Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.2 Nonlocal Cylindrical Shell Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.1 Governing Equations for Circular Cylindrical
Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
5.2.2 Nonlocal Classical Shell Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.2.3 Nonlocal First-Order Shear Deformation Theory . . . . . 99
5.3 Nonlocal Plate Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Contents xi

5.3.1 The Kirchhoff Plate Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

5.3.2 The Reissner-Mindlin Plate Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.3.3 Circular Nanoplate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.4 Nonlocal Membrane Theory for Spherical Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.5 Nonlocal Models for Nanocrystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6 Elastic Properties of Carbon-Based Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . 115
6.1 Young’s Modulus and Effective Wall Thickness
of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6.2 Anisotropic Elastic Constants of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.3 Nonlocal Parameter for Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
6.4 Evaluation of the Nonlocal Parameter for SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . 126
6.5 Anisotropic Mechanical Properties of Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . 130
6.6 Effective Young’s Modulus of Fullerene Molecules . . . . . . . . . 135
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Part II
7 Computational Modelling of the Vibrational Characteristics
of Zero-Dimensional Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1 Historical Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1.1 Axisymmetric Vibration of Spherical Nanoshells . . . . . 144
7.1.2 Breathing-Mode of Spherical Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . 144
7.2 Axisymmetric Vibrational Modes of Spherical Fullerene
Molecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
7.3 Vibration of Spherical Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
7.3.1 Radial Vibration of Isolated Nanoparticles . . . . . . . . . . 151
7.3.2 Vibration Under Radial Body Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
7.3.3 Frequency Analysis of Nanoparticle Subject
to Surface Periodic Excitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8 Modelling the Mechanical Characteristics of One-Dimensional
Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
8.1 Measurement of Mechanical Characteristics
of One-Dimensional Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.1 Nanoscale Tensile Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.2 Beam Bending Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
8.1.3 Mechanical Resonance Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.1.4 Nanoindentation Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
8.1.5 Challenges in the Mechanical Characterisation
of ODNSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
xii Contents

8.2 Vibration of Nanorods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

8.2.1 Extensional Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8.2.2 Breathing Vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
8.3 Static Deformation of Nanorods Under Axial Loadings . . . . . . . 177
8.3.1 Nonlocal Differential Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
8.3.2 Two-Phase Nonlocal Integral Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
8.3.3 Nanorod in Tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
9 Modelling the Mechanical Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes:
A Nonlocal Differential Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.1 Classification of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.2 Large Aspect Ratio SWCNTs: Nanobeams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.1 Bending Deformations of SWCNTs Subject
to Transverse Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.2 Buckling of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
9.2.3 Postbuckling Behaviour of Highly Deformable
Nanobeams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
9.2.4 Linear Flexural Vibrations of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . 201
9.3 Low Aspect Ratio SWCNTs: Cylindrical Nanoshells . . . . . . . . 203
9.3.1 Shell-Like Buckling of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
9.3.2 Vibrational Properties of SWCNTs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
9.3.3 Radial Breathing Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10 Application of Nonlocal Elasticity Theory to Modelling
of Two-Dimensional Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.1 Bending Deformation of Graphene Sheets Under
a Transverse Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.2 Buckling of Single-Layered Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.2.1 Rectangular Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
10.2.2 Circular Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
10.3 Deformation of Geometrically Imperfect Circular
Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
10.4 Transverse Vibration of Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.4.1 Transverse Free Vibration of Rectangular
Graphene Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
10.4.2 Viscoelastic Graphene Sheets Embedded
in a Viscoelastic Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
10.5 Application of the Nonlocal Anisotropic Elasticity
to Modelling Graphene Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Contents xiii

11 Nonlocal Elasticity Models for Mechanics of Complex

Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.1 Application of the Nonlocal Models to Nanoscale Devices . . . . 241
11.1.1 Resonant Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
11.1.2 Nanoturbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
11.2 Mechanical Characteristics of Biological Nanoscopic
Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
11.2.1 Mechanical Behaviour of Protein Microtubules . . . . . . 247
11.2.2 Analysis of Lipid Tubules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.2.3 Low Frequency Vibrational Modes of Spherical
Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
11.2.4 Persistence Length of Collagen Molecules . . . . . . . . . . 251
11.3 Other Types of Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
11.3.1 Nanotube-Based Heterojunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
11.3.2 Nanopeapods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.3.3 Y-Junction Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
11.3.4 Piezoelectric Nanoscopic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
11.3.5 Carbon Honeycombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
12 Recent Developments and Future Challenges in the Application
of Nonlocal Elasticity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
12.1 Nonlocal Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
12.2 Self-adjointness of Eringen’s Nonlocal Elasticity . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12.3 Nonlocal Constitutive Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
12.4 Nonlocal Fully Intrinsic Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
12.5 Microstructure-Based Nonlocal Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
12.6 Stress-Driven Nonlocal Integral Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
12.7 Concluding Remarks and Future Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
About the Authors

Esmaeal Ghavanloo is currently Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at

Shiraz University, Iran. He received B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Shiraz
University in 2007, 2009 and 2013, respectively, all in Mechanical Engineering. He
is author of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of mechanics of
nanostructures, nanocomposite material, cellular biomechanics and nonlocal elas-
ticity theory. He is also an active reviewer of several scientific and international
journals. He has made important contributions to the application of the nonlocal
elasticity theory to the nanoscopic structures. He has received “Dr. Kazem Ashtiani
Award” in the year 2013 from Iran’s National Elites Foundation.

Hashem Rafii-Tabar is currently the Distinguished Professor of Theoretical and

Computational Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Department of Medical
Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical
Sciences in Iran. He was educated in England, including a Research Fellowship at
the University of Oxford. He was a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of
Materials Research at the University of Tohoku (Japan). He was the founder of the
nanotechnology field in Iran and was the Head of the Nanotechnology Committee
of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in Iran. He is a member of the
Iran’s Academy of Sciences and was elected as an Eminent Science Personality
(Chehreh Mandegar) in 2006. His tens of publications cover several distinct areas
of theoretical physics, and nanoscience, including nano-neuroscience. He shared the
Elegant Work Prize of the Institute of Materials (London) in 1994 for his investi-
gations in the field of computational nanoscience. His book “Computational
Physics of Carbon Nanotubes” published by the Cambridge University Press in
2008 was the first to cover this field and has been republished several times.

Seyed Ahmad Fazelzadeh is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at

Shiraz University in Iran. He was a Visiting Research Professor at the Zienkiewicz
Centre for Computational Engineering, Swansea University, UK. He obtained the
B.Sc. degree (Honors) in Mechanical Engineering in 1991 from the Shiraz
University. He received the M.Sc. degree in Applied Mechanics and Ph.D. degree

xv
xvi About the Authors

in Aerospace Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 1994 and 2002,

respectively. His research and teaching span over 25 years and his expertise and
leadership in the fields of structural dynamics and stability, aeroelasticity,
nanocomposite, nanoscopics and smart structures. To his credit thus far he has six
book chapters, one book, over 110 technical papers in prestigious journals, 125
papers in the international conference proceedings and one national Patent. He
serves on the Editorial Boards of Applied Mathematical Modelling, Journal of
Mechanics of Advanced Composite Structures and Sharif Journal of Mechanical
Engineering. He is an active researcher and dedicated teacher and has received
numerous awards and recognitions for excellence in teaching and research. He is a
member of the Iranian Society of Mechanical Engineering and was elected as
distinguished professor in 2018.
Abbreviations

AIREBO Adaptive intermolecular reactive empirical bond order potential

CCMV Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus
CGMD Coarse-grained molecular dynamics
DFT Density functional theory
DWCNT Double-walled carbon nanotube
FCC Face-centered cubic
FRF Frequency response function
HRTEM High-resolution transmission electron microscopy
IPR Isolated pentagon rule
LAMMPS Large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator
LD Lattice Dynamics
MC Monte Carlo
MD Molecular Dynamics
MEMS Microelectromechanical systems
MWCNT Multi-walled carbon nanotube
NEMS Nanoelectromechanical systems
ODNS One-dimensional nanoscopic structure
RBM Radial breathing mode
SEM Scanning electron microscope
SLGS Single-layer graphene sheet
STM Scanning tunnelling microscope
SWCNT Single-walled carbon nanotube
YJCNT Y-junction carbon nanotube

xvii
Chapter 1
Introduction

Small structures formed from a countable number of particles (atoms or molecules)

and whose physical and chemical properties are functions of their sizes, are called
nanoscopic structures. These structures are located between individual atoms
(the size of an atom being about 0.1 nm) and large clusters consisting of up to
108 atoms or molecules. It is a standard practice in the nanoscience community that
a structure is termed as a nanoscopic structure if at least one of its dimensions lies in
the range 1–100 nm. Novel properties and functions are associated with nanoscopic
structures due to reduction in their dimensionalities. These small structures have
promoted a revolution in science and technology, and they are utilized in making
new devices as well as leading to new technologies. Furthermore, Nature has already
employed nanoscopic structures to perform vital biological functions. Hence, these
exotic structures have occupied the centre stage in pure and applied research due to
their widespread applications in various fields of nanoscience, nanoengineering, nan-
otechnology, materials science and technology, medical physics, biomedical engi-
neering, biotechnology, molecular biology and genetics, information technology,
and neural science and neural engineering. The invention of the scanning tunnelling
microscope (STM) has opened a new perspective for the characterization, measure-
ment and manipulation of nanoscopic structures. Following this invention, various
types of biological and non-biological nanoscopic structures with various morpholo-
gies and functionalities have been discovered, synthesized and reported during the
past four decades.
Phenomenological study of nanoscopic structures, either as single isolated struc-
tures or as components in nanoscale machines and systems, forms an active research
area in applied science and engineering. The investigation into their mechanical char-
acteristics, in particular, forms one of the most intense fields of research. Understand-
ing the mechanical properties and behaviour of a material system at nanoscale level is
a necessary requirement for an efficient and accurate design, fabrication and assembly
of nanoscale systems, nanomaterials, nanodevices and nanodrugs. Accordingly, the
development of well-understood theoretical, computational and experimental frame-
works for characterizing the mechanical structure and behaviour of the nanoscopic
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1
E. Ghavanloo et al., Computational Continuum Mechanics
of Nanoscopic Structures, Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11650-7_1
2 1 Introduction

structures is very desirable, and it poses a huge number of challenges for researchers
in this field. Since the measurement of the mechanical behaviour of nanoscopic
structures is a time consuming and rather expensive endeavour, significant efforts
have been invested to explore their properties and behaviour through theoretical and
mathematical approaches. These approaches can generally be classified into four cat-
egories; atomistic-based simulation methods, multi-scale (coarse-grained) modelling
methods, continuum-based methods, and modified continuum approaches.
Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation approaches are the
most well-known types of the atomistic-based simulation approaches. In the MD
simulation, the dynamic behaviour of constituent particles is predicted by numeri-
cally solving the differential equations of their motion, and so this method may be
appropriate for modelling both their equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties. In
contrast to the MD simulation, the MC simulation methods do not involve the use
of equations of motion and consequently they are appropriate for studying the phe-
nomena in thermodynamic equilibrium [1]. Although the atomistic-based simulation
methods have meet with outstanding success in computational physics, their appli-
cations are limited to simple systems with a relatively small number of molecules
or atoms because the use of these methods requires access to very high-performance
computational facilities. Furthermore, there are other limitations related to time steps,
constraints, boundary conditions and temperature effects [2].
To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to decrease the number of degrees of
freedom by grouping atoms into larger particles or beads, and replacing the atomic
interactions by bead-bead interactions. This process is known as coarse-graining
[3]. The concept of coarse-graining has been widely used in creating a macroscopic
theory of materials from their microscopic degrees of freedom [4]. Generally, there
is no systematic approach for coarse-graining that is applicable to all materials, but
several procedures have been proposed for coarse-graining of particular systems
[5]. One of the most familiar classes of coarse-grained methods is coarse-grained
molecular dynamics (CGMD) that has been developed by Rudd and Broughtony
[6]. The CGMD is a natural bridging technique which provides a coupling between
the various scales, allowing the results of calculations at lower length and time
scales to be used as input parameters in the calculations at higher scales. Important
atomistic effects can be captured by using the CGMD without the computational cost
of standard atomistic-based simulation methods. Although the coarse-grained multi-
scale methods have proven to be reliable techniques for the simulation of material
behaviour, the implementation of the model varies from system to system.
Furthermore, it is confirmed that continuum-based models provide efficient alter-
native methods to investigate the mechanical behaviour of nanoscopic structures. The
main assumption underlying the continuum-based models is that the material proper-
ties are distributed continuously throughout the spaces occupied by them and that the
empty spaces between the atoms or molecules are ignored. From the computational
point of view, these methods are very effective and highly efficient because they
can work with reduced degrees of freedom. The main advantage of the continuum-
based methods over the molecular simulation methods is their capability for per-
forming computations without limitation in time and size scales. In these models,
1 Introduction 3

the deformation of a continuous medium is related to the applied external forces.

In the classical continuum theory, the basic assumption is that the stress at a material
point is only dependent on the strain, strain rate and strain history at that particular
point. In other word, the strain outside an arbitrary neighbourhood of the material
point is disregarded. Since information from neighbouring material points is not used,
these models are referred to as local models [7]. Although the classical continuum
theories can be used as very useful tools for modelling the mechanical properties
of nanoscopic structures, however, several questions are naturally raised about the
applicability and limitations of these theories at very small-scales. One of the most
important limitations concerns the fact that the discrete nature of the nanoscopic
structures cannot be accurately homogenized into a continuum background medium.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the material properties at the very small-scales
are size-and geometry-dependent and the small-length scale effect becomes signif-
icant in the mechanical characteristics of the nanoscopic structures. In addition, the
continuum-based computational methods are scale independent and cannot reflect
the nanoscale physical laws of the nanoscopic structures. Consequently, computa-
tional models based on the classical continuum theories fail when the size of the
structure becomes comparable with the internal characteristic length of the material
under consideration.
To overcome these limitations of the classical continuum theories, a series of
modified continuum approaches have been proposed for accommodating the
nanoscale size-effects. There are different ways to modify the classical contin-
uum theories to extend their applicability and reduce their limitations. Modified
continuum-based methods possess both the advantages of atomistic-based simulation
methods and continuum-based methods. Generally, the modified continuum-based
models accommodate nanoscale size-effects and are referred to as the nonlocal mod-
els [8]. To incorporate the small-scale effects into the theoretical modelling of the
nanoscopic structures, different modified continuum theories, namely the Cosserat
continuum theory [9], the micromorphic continuum theory [10], the rotation gradient
or couple-stress theories [11], the higher-order strain-gradient theories [12–14], the
nonlocal continuum field theories [15] and the atomistic-continuum theories [16]
have been proposed. In modified models, the atomistic information and size-effects
are integrated into the classical continuum models. The most widely used theory for
analysing the nanoscopic structures is the nonlocal elasticity theory. In the context
of the nonlocal elasticity, it is assumed that the stress field at a given reference point
requires the knowledge of the strain field at every other point in the body. Based on
this conceptual idea, the long-range interatomic interactions between material points
can be taken into account. In the original nonlocal model developed by Eringen
[15], the stress is obtained from the integral of the nonlocal averaging strain over the
whole body. Therefore, the stress-strain constitutive relations are only the difference
between the nonlocal and classical theories, whereas the equilibrium and compati-
bility equations remain unaltered. The nonlocal effect is introduced via a nonlocal
parameter which depends on several parameters including the molecular structure,
the internal characteristic length and the material type.
4 1 Introduction

The appearance of the nonlocal elasticity theory dates from the 1970s in studies
concerned with the modelling of the elastic wave dispersion in crystals. A formal
thermomechanical- and variational-based derivation of the constitutive equations of
this theory is given by Eringen and co-workers [17–19]. Rogula [20] has collected
his works on the mathematical structure of the nonlocal elasticity theory and the
different types of nonlocal stress-strain relations in a book, studying various prob-
lems in continuum mechanics. Many sub-fields of the nonlocal field theories have
been established by Eringen [15], including nonlocal pure elastic continua, nonlo-
cal fluid mechanics, nonlocal electromagnetism, nonlocal thermoelasticity, nonlocal
memory-dependent elasticity, nonlocal piezoelectricity etc. However, the nonlocal
elasticity theory has received relatively less attention and has only been employed by
a limited number of research groups. An exact, or approximate, solution to the nonlo-
cal integral function can be determined under some very special circumstances using
the Green function approach, and hence its use is rather limited. Although an equiva-
lent formulation of the nonlocal elasticity in a differential form has also been derived,
this differential nonlocal stress relation seems not to have attracted the attention of
the research community for some time. Over the past decade, nonlocal elasticity
theory has emerged as a promising size-dependant continuum theory. Significant
progress has been made in fundamental and applied computational research in this
area. Application of nonlocal continuum-based modelling to nanoscopic structures
has attracted significant attention in the nanomechanics community. The mechanical
properties of different nanoscopic structures such as carbon allotropes, nanowires,
nanoparticles, etc., have been successfully investigated. The results obtained from
the nonlocal elasticity models for various nanostructures are in excellent agreement
with those obtained from experimental measurements and atomistic simulations.
Although there exist few books and review papers covering the subject of the
nonlocal continuum mechanics, however, to our knowledge, no book that systemat-
ically addresses all aspects of the nonlocal continuum mechanics appropriate for
nanoscopic structures, and provides the underlying computational methods, and
mathematical theories, and considers the applications of these methods and theo-
ries to the investigation of their mechanical characteristics has been published. The
book by Eringen [15] is a significant book in this field. That book explains the fun-
damental formulation of the nonlocal field theory. However, it is not easy to follow
for a wide range of researchers in different fields of computational science who
are interested in the analysis of the mechanical characteristics of low-dimensional
structures. The book by Gopalakrishnan and Narendar [21] describes the fundamen-
tal and advanced concepts of wave propagation in the nanoscopic structures. That
book is based on the nonlocal elasticity theory and it predominantly addresses the
wave behaviour in carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets. The book is useful but is
more specialized because it focuses only on the wave propagation. A recent book
by Karlicic and co-workers [22] provides an introduction to the nonlocal elasticity
theory for static, dynamic and stability analyses of structural elements such as rods,
beams and plates. In writing that book, it was assumed that the readers were familiar
with the basic engineering mechanics and having a graduate-level mechanics back-
ground. The authors collected and classified their previous published papers, while
the valuable results by other researchers were not considered.
1 Introduction 5

The extensive nonlocal continuum-based modelling of nanoscopic structures has

reached such a mature stage that an up-to-date book is now called for to collect the
current status of our knowledge, particularly for those who would benefit from learn-
ing the theoretical and computational methods of the nonlocal elasticity approach
for investigating the mechanical characteristics of low-dimensional structures. This
is the motivation behind the writing of the present book. Our book aims to system-
atically present and discuss the past and the current developments, recent attempts,
challenges, and results addressing the mechanical characteristics of the nanoscopic
structures within the framework of nonlocal elasticity theory. There are many novel
and unique features to this book. It is a rather comprehensive and self-contained book
that utilizes the research materials and publications produced up to the year 2019. One
of the main features of this book is to give all the relevant preliminaries, mathematical
techniques, theoretical assumptions, physical methods and possible limitations of the
nonlocal approach. To make the self-learning an enjoyable journey for our readers,
our motto is to spell out all the details even if they may seem elementary. Further-
more, to help with the comprehension of the topics, some practical applications are
also presented. Although this book is primarily concerned with the theoretical and
computational concepts, some experimental results are also discussed. Another fea-
ture of this book is its in-depth discussions of the vast and rapidly expanding research
works pertinent to the nonlocal modelling of the nanoscopic structures. The integra-
tion of teaching and research is another key feature. This book is largely written for
practicing research scientists but, by providing enough details, we hope that it is also
useful for senior undergraduate and postgraduate students, and post-doctoral research
scientists. Researchers and practicing engineers working in the field of nanoscopic
structures can also find this book useful. Our purpose is to help the interested reader
to follow the current widely used nonlocal models.
In this book we present the nonlocal continuum-based mechanics methods con-
cerned with the mechanical behaviour of different biological as well as non-biological
nanoscopic structures, covering their static deformations, structural stability, buck-
ling behaviour and vibrational behaviour. We have endeavoured to cover most of
the research materials pertinent to the nonlocal-based modelling of the nanoscopic
structures and their vital fundamental applications and relevant references of nonlocal
elasticity theory.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part consists of Chaps. 2–6, cov-
ering the relevant preliminaries, theoretical frameworks, mathematical and physical
methods and possible limitations of the nonlocal approach required to understand
the mechanical characteristics of nanoscopic structures. The second part consists of
Chaps. 7–12, which concerns the application of the theoretical considerations and
models described in Part I to the study of static and dynamic behaviour of nanoscopic
structures with various morphologies. Chapter 2 provides the essential background in
nanomechanical engineering techniques including the modelling techniques that are
employed for investigating the mechanical properties and behaviour of nanoscopic
structures. The various types of biological as well as non-biological nanoscopic struc-
tures, whose mechanical properties have been the subject of extensive investigations,
are also presented. Chapter 3 addresses the theoretical background and summarizes
6 1 Introduction

the most important notions in continuum mechanics including the concepts of strain
and compatibility, stress and equilibrium, elasticity and constitutive equations. In
Chap. 4, we begin to introduce the notion of nonlocality and discuss the necessity of
nonlocal modelling for nanoscopic structures. Furthermore, different types of non-
local relations are discussed rather comprehensively and various nonlocal kernels
are presented. To our knowledge, this is the first time that these kernels have been
listed, and detailed descriptions of their properties given. Chapter 5 provides the
computational nonlocal models for beams, plates, shells and nanocrystals, describ-
ing the static and dynamic behaviour of these nanoscopic structures. These models
are employed in such areas of nanomechanics as vibration, structural stability and
static deformations. Estimates of the elastic properties of nanoscopic structures play
a vital role in the application of continuum-based modelling. A comprehensive dis-
cussion pertinent to the elastic properties of the nanoscopic structures is presented
in Chap. 6. In Chaps. 7–10, we survey the applications of the nonlocal continuum
modelling to the static and dynamic properties of zero-, one- and two-dimensional
nanoscopic structures. Chapter 11 describes the application of nonlocal models to
simulate the mechanical behaviour of complicated nanoscopic structures including
nanoscale devices, biological nanoscopic structures and etc.
In recent years, some new developments and challenges in the applications of
the nonlocal elasticity theory (e.g. nonlocal paradox, nonlocal constitutive boundary
conditions, stress-driven nonlocal integral model, nonlocal fully intrinsic equations,
modified nonlocal models and structures etc.) have been presented in the nanome-
chanics community. To cover these aspects of the nonlocal elasticity theory, these
new topics are covered as well in Chap. 12.
The material presented in Part II is obtained from key research papers that we
have selected from among thousands of publications in this field. Obviously, our
selection could not have been exhaustive and some significant papers and reports
may not have come to our attention when writing this book. We, therefore, welcome
constructive suggestions from the research community in this regard.

References

1. A. Satoh, Introduction to Practice of Molecular Simulation (Elsevier, London, 2011)

2. W.K. Liu, E.G. Karpov, S. Zhang, H.S. Park, An introduction to computational nanomechanics
and materials. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 193, 1529–1578 (2004)
3. H. Weiss, P. Deglmann, P.J. in’t Veld, M. Cetinkaya, E. Schreiner, Multiscale materials modeling
in an industrial environment, Ann. Rev. Chem. Biomol. 7, 65–86 (2016)
4. N. Ramakrishnan, P.B. Sunil Kumar, R. Radhakrishnan, Mesoscale computational studies of
membrane bilayer remodeling by curvature-inducing proteins. Phys. Rep. 543, 1–60 (2014)
5. T.S. Gates, G.M. Odegard, S.J.V. Frankland, T.C. Clancy, Computational materials: multi-scale
modeling and simulation of nanostructured materials. Compos. Sci. Technol. 65, 2416–2434
(2005)
6. R.E. Rudd, J.Q. Broughtony, Coarse grained molecular dynamics and the atomic limit of finite
elements. Phys. Rev. B 58, R5893–R5896 (1998)
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7. J. Fatemi, F. Vankeulen, P.R. Onck, Generalized continuum theories: application to stress

analysis in bone. Meccanica 37, 385–396 (2002)
8. H. Rafii-Tabar, E. Ghavanloo, S.A. Fazelzadeh, Nonlocal continuum-based modeling of
mechanical characteristics of nanoscopic structures. Phys. Rep. 638, 1–97 (2016)
9. Y. Yoshiyuki, An intrinsic theory of a Cosserat continuum. Int. J. Solids Struct. 4, 1013–1023
(1968)
10. A.C. Eringen, E.S. Suhubi, Nonlinear theory of simple micro-elastic solids. Int. J. Eng. Sci. 2,
189–203 (1964)
11. A.R. Hadjesfandiari, G.F. Dargush, Couple stress theory for solids. Int. J. Solids Struct. 48,
2496–2510 (2011)
12. R.D. Mindlin, N.N. Eshel, On first strain-gradient theories in linear elasticity. Int. J. Solids
Struct. 4, 109–124 (1968)
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tions, length scale identification procedures, finite element implementations and new results.
Int. J. Solids Struct. 48, 1962–1990 (2011)
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and its applications in wave propagation. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 78, 298–313 (2015)
15. A.C. Eringen, Nonlocal Continuum Field Theories (Springer, NewYork, 2002)
16. V.B. Shenoy, R. Miller, E.B. Tadmor, D. Rodney, R. Phillips, M. Ortiz, An adaptive finite
element approach to atomic-scale mechanics-the quasi continuum method. J. Mech. Phys.
Solids 47, 611–642 (1999)
17. A.C. Eringen, Linear theory of nonlocal elasticity and dispersion of plane waves. Int. J. Eng.
Sci. 10, 425–435 (1972)
18. A.C. Eringen, D.G.B. Edelen, On nonlocal elasticity. Int. J. Eng. Sci. 10, 233–248 (1972)
19. A.C. Eringen, C.G. Speziale, B.S. Kim, Crack-tip problem in non-local elasticity. J. Mech.
Phys. Solids 25, 339–355 (1977)
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ISTE, London, 2016)
Part I
Chapter 2
Fundamental Tenets of Nanomechanics

Nanoscience is concerned with the study and understanding of phenomena that

manifest themselves at the nanoscale, and nanotechnology refers to the synthe-
sis, control, engineering, and manipulation of atomistic and molecular systems and
structures. The appearance of nanoscience and nanotechnology has prompted fun-
damental and radical changes in varieties of scientific and engineering disciplines.
Among the diverse branches of the nanoscience, the study and characterization of
mechanical behaviour of physical systems at nanoscale form an interdisciplinary and
cross disciplinary area referred to as nanomechanics. This branch of nanoscience has
emerged from the interplay of classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, solid-state
physics, and materials physics and chemistry. Nanomechanics differs from macro-
scopic mechanics in various aspects, and contains many subfields such as mechanics
of nanocomposites, molecular dynamics, molecular mechanics, design of microelec-
tromechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), and cellular
biomechanics [1]. Nanoscale mechanics provides the scientific foundation and the
infrastructure for nanotechnology and nanoengineering. This subfield of nanoscience
has witnessed an explosive growth worldwide over the past decades.
In this chapter, we present a brief introduction to essential concepts underly-
ing nanomechanics. The three sections in this chapter are organized as follows.
An overview of different nonbiological as well as biological nanoscopic structures,
whose mechanical properties have been the subject of the extensive investigations, is
given in Sect. 2.1. In Sect. 2.2, the techniques for modelling the mechanical properties
of nanoscopic structures will be briefly reviewed. Finally, in Sect. 2.3, we will intro-
duce some useful definitions and concepts pertinent to this mechanical behaviour
that will be further used in other chapters.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 11

E. Ghavanloo et al., Computational Continuum Mechanics
of Nanoscopic Structures, Springer Tracts in Mechanical Engineering,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11650-7_2
12 2 Fundamental Tenets of Nanomechanics

2.1 Nanoscopic Structures

Nanoscopic structures are the entry points into a new realm in modern physical and
biological sciences. They characterise the building blocks of inanimate and animate
matter. These structures are composed of a countable number of elementary units
(such as atoms) packed very closely together. Nanoscopic structures have signifi-
cantly large surface-to-volume ratio, and operate on highly reduced time and energy
scales. The miniaturization of materials from macroscale to the nanoscale leads to
radical changes in their physical properties. As a result, they exhibit physical prop-
erties that are distinctively different from the properties of bulk materials composed
of the same atoms. For example, the melting temperatures of various nanowires have
been found to be lower than their corresponding bulk forms [2]. Furthermore, the
strength of nanowires can reach up to 100 times that in corresponding bulk materials
[3].
Nanotechnology is concerned with designing and constructing devices, compo-
nents and systems from assemblies of isolated nanoscopic structures. Depending
on the type of nanoscopic structure involved, namely, soft biological or organic
nanoscopic structures and hard inorganic ones, nanotechnology has been classified
into soft and hard nanotechnologies. There are two approaches to nanotechnology
for the synthesis and the fabrication of nanoscopic structures; the bottom-up and
top-down approaches. The bottom-up approach is based on the self-assembly phe-
nomenon, i.e., the process of constructing complex structures from simpler ones. This
approach involves molecular manipulation and molecular engineering to construct
nanoscopic structures, molecular machines and molecular devices by a precise posi-
tioning of atoms, molecules or clusters at prespecified locations (Fig. 2.1). Three
main bottom-up technologies for producing the nanoscopic structures are (1) the
supramolecular and molecular chemistry, (2) the scanning probe microscopy, and
(3) biotechnology [4]. Consequently, these techniques in nanotechnology allow for
the structural transformation and the purposeful manipulation of condensed phases
at their most elementary levels. Furthermore, we can interrogate organic and inor-
ganic matter atom-by-atom and induce predetermined property changes in them.
In contrast, the top-down approach, initiated in the classic paper of Feynman [5],
is based on the sequential decrease of the objects size by means of chemical and
mechanical methods to reach the nanoscopic structures (Fig. 2.2). The milling or attri-
tion, repeated quenching and lithography are among the most well-known top-down
methods. In these methods, the nanoscopic structures are produced from microscopic
scales without control at the atomic level [6].
In the past four decades, numerous novel nanoscopic structures with different mor-
phologies, sizes, and compositions have been discovered, synthesized and reported
in the literature. It is well-known that their behaviour and functionalities strongly
depend on their sizes, compositions, dimensionality and morphologies. In order
to properly describe the diversity of nanoscopic structures, some form of classifi-
cation scheme is required. Currently, the nanoscopic structures are typically clas-
sified on the basis of their dimensions. These structures can be categorized as
2.1 Nanoscopic Structures 13

Fig. 2.1 Schematic illustration of the bottom-up approach

Fig. 2.2 Schematic illustration of the top-down approach

zero-dimensional, one-dimensional and two-dimensional [7]. The first attempt to

classify the nanoscopic structures was made by Gleiter [8], however, some
important nanoscopic structures including fullerenes and nanotubes were not included
in that classification. Therefore, Pokropivny and Skorokhod [9] presented a modi-
fied classification scheme. The classification expressed here follows the work of
Pokropivny and Skorokhod [9].
Zero-dimensional nanoscopic structures are materials that have all their three
dimensions at the nanoscale. In these structures, the electrons are fully confined and
so no electron delocalization occurs. Nanoparticles, quantum dots, atomic clusters,
fullerenes and onions can be considered as zero-dimensional nanoscopic structures.
In one-dimensional nanostructures, two of their dimensions are restricted to a few
tens of nanometers while the third dimension can be several hundred nanometers. The
electron confinement occurs in two dimensions and delocalization takes place along
the long axis of the strictures. Therefore, these needle-like structures represent the
smallest structures that can efficiently transport charge carriers. Nanorods, nanowires,
nanotubes, nanobelts and nanoribbons are well-known examples of one-dimensional
nanostructures. Two-dimensional nanoscopic structures, such as nanoplates, thin
films, nanosheets, nanodisks and nanowalls, are materials with two of their dimen-
sions not restricted to the nanoscale. Therefore, two-dimensional nanoscopic struc-
tures show plate-like shapes. These certain geometries exhibit unique and novel
characteristics and properties.
14 2 Fundamental Tenets of Nanomechanics

2.1.1 Carbon-Based Nanoscopic Structures

Carbon, the sixth element in the periodic table, is one of the most important and
useful elements on earth. It has been known and utilized for centuries, going back to
antiquity, and it plays a critical role in Nature and life. The reason for this vital role
is its tendency to combine with other elements to form compounds. Carbon atoms
can bond to other carbon atoms in so many different ways. The bonding can lead
to numerous known carbon allotropes. Prior to the discovery of fullerenes in 1985,
diamond and graphite were the only known crystalline forms of carbon. The starting
point of a new era in carbon materials is the synthesis of fullerene or the buckyball
[10]. The discovery of this nanoscopic structure has generated considerable world-
wide research effort that is still growing. Another allotrope of carbon in a tubular
form, called the carbon nanotube, was discovered in 1991 by Iijima [11] using an arc-
discharge evaporation method. This discovery has opened a fascinating new chapter
in the science and technology at nanoscales. In 2004, graphene, an isolated layer
of graphite, was discovered by Novoselov and co-workers [12]. Beyond these more
familiar carbon-based nanoscopic structures, several other exotic forms of carbon
material, such as nanohorns, nanopeapods, bucky-shuttle, carbon schwarzite and
carbon nanofoam, have also emerged [13].
The carbon-based nanoscopic structures have accelerated the basic and applied
research in nanomaterial science and nanotechnology. Furthermore, they are promis-
ing materials for applications in different technological and biomedical fields.
Among the numerous carbon-based nanoscopic structures, we highlight the fullerene
molecules, carbon nanotubes, and graphene sheets. In the following subsections, we
discuss each of these structures.

2.1.1.1 Fullerenes

Fullerene molecules are one of the earliest discovered carbon-based nanoscopic struc-
tures and they have promoted a revolution in science and technology. They are closed-
cage molecules, and can be considered as zero-dimensional carbon-based nanoscopic
structures. In these molecules, each carbon atom is bonded to three nearest neighbour
carbon atoms via sp 2 hybridized bonds. In general, there are two different carbon
bonds in this molecule; the double bonds with length 0.14 nm, and single bonds
with length 0.146 nm. This class of nanoscopic structures is usually denoted by C N ,
where N is the number of carbon atoms. Note that, for a given number of carbon
atoms, there are different ways to arrange the carbon atoms into a fullerene, and
each possibility is termed an isomer. For example, a C60 fullerene has 1812 different
isomers [14].
From a geometric point of view, the structure of fullerenes follows the Euler
polyhedral theorem, which relates to the topological structures of the molecule. The
Euler theorem can be expressed as follows [15]:

nv + n f − ne = 2 (2.1)
2.1 Nanoscopic Structures 15

where n v , n f and n e are respectively the number of vertices, faces and edges of a
polyhedron. Since every edge forms two faces, and every vertex is connected to three
edges, we have
n f = n p + nh (2.2)

5n p + 6n h
nv = (2.3)
3
5n p + 6n h
ne = (2.4)
2
in which n p and n h are the number of pentagonal and hexagonal faces, respectively.
Substituting Eqs. (2.2)–(2.4) into Eq. (2.1) gives n p = 12. This means that fullerenes
composed of an arbitrary number of hexagonal faces and exactly 12 pentagonal
faces. Furthermore, comparison of Eqs. (2.3) and (2.4) gives 3n v = 2n e , and hence
the number of vertices or atoms must be even [16]. It should also be noted that a
fullerene molecule is energetically stable when all its 12 pentagons are separated by
hexagons. This rule is called the isolated pentagon rule (IPR).
According to the Euler theorem, the smallest fullerene is C20 , which is formed
by 12 pentagons and no hexagons. However, this fullerene does not satisfy the IPR,
and so exhibits a very short lifetime. The smallest fullerene which satisfies the IPR
is C60 . The fullerene molecules with less than 60 carbon atoms cannot have isolated
pentagons and so they are highly unstable [17]. The C60 is one of the earliest observed
fullerenes and it led to a revolution in carbon-based nanotechnology. It was named
buckminsterfullerene, because of its similarity to geodesic dome structures designed
and built by Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). Furthermore, the C60 fullerene
is known as the buckyball. These names are specifically used for the C60 molecule.
The most striking characteristics of the buckminsterfullerene is its high symmetry.
Based on the structural configuration, there are two main types of fullerenes;
spherical or near-spherical, and ellipsoidal/non-spherical [18]. For example C60 , C80 ,
C180 , C240 , C260 , C320 , C540 , C720 can be considered as the spherical or near-spherical
fullerenes, and the ellipsoidal (or non-spherical) fullerenes include C70 , C90 , C100
etc. Figure 2.3 shows the structure and geometry of some fullerene molecules. Inter-
estingly, the structure of fullerenes is similar to the materials that could be found
in Nature. For example, spherical fullerenes have a similar structure to icosahedral
viruses.

2.1.1.2 Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotube is another allotrope of carbon which was experimentally synthe-

sized by Iijima [11] in 1991. This is often considered to be the first observation
of carbon nanotubes, but there are several reports indicating that the production of
filamentous carbon was observed much earlier by Radushkevich and Lukyanovich
[19]. This type of carbon nanotube was later called a multi-walled carbon nanotube
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"H'I tell ye, byes, smugglin's good gear h'all round," broke in the
cockney.
"Begorra, an' I'm after knowin' that same. Weren't I in the Admiral
Tronde, a bruck-up little one-gunned stame-kettle runnin' guns fur
them Urriguay sports," cried Paddy excitedly.
"Were ye, Pat? Bully for you," went on the cockney. "I done some
gun-runnin' too up the Persian Gulf; but h'I 'ad ter quit—the screw
were good enuff, but the 'eat wos a knock-out. Lord love ye! W'y, we
biled our cauffee on the shanks o' the anchors; s'elp me, but they
wos allers red 'ot. An' th' ole man, 'e don' ever wear nuffin' but a
bloomin' gal's night-gownd——"
"Heat don't worry me," interrupted Hank. "It's cold calls the turn on
me. I was up the Behring once sealin' an' got my bellyful."
"Much ice?" inquired Jack casually.
"A pretty considerable mush of it."
"I was two months in the ice to the south'ard once in the Cairngorm,"
declared the rover.
"The hell yew war? 'Member speakin' the I.P. Rakes off the Dyeego
Ramerrez? Yew had ye jibboom gone an' nought above the lower-
mast forrard. Your ole man sent a life-boat aboard us fur spuds—
said y'd got scurvy bad. By Davy, I allers allows thet were the dirtiest
sea I ever see'd a boat live in."
"It was bad," agreed Jack. "We got stove in trying to get aboard
again, and lost three men."
"Thet's right! I see'd yew wi' these very eyes, smashed to staves yew
were; an' yew were in thet boat, eh?"
"Yes," said the Britisher quietly. "I was second mate of the
Cairngorm, and had charge of her."
"Phew!" exclaimed Hank, drawing a long breath; "an' whar did yew
larn thet trick o' handlin' a boat? Been whalin', I s'pose?"
"No; all the boat-work I know I picked up in the Islands."
"Ever seen Siwash squaws run a birch-bark through rapids?" asked
old Bedrock Ben. "That's what I calls boat-handlin'."
"Squaws 'andle a boat! To 'ell wiv ye!" burst out the cockney
disdainfully. "What d'you know 'bout h'it? W'y, you ain't never seen
the Boat Ryce."
"What boat race?" grunted old Ben.
"Lord lummy, byes, listen to 'im! Sech h'ignorance is bloomin' well a
disgryce."
"What's this here race you-alls alludes to?" inquired Broncho in his
polite Texan drawl.
"Oh, 'ell!" gasped the cockney, and sank back in a state of collapse.
"I see'd the Boat Race onct," suddenly put in Jim's small voice, "an' I
ain't never forget it."
"I ain't no use fur racin'," growled Red Bill. "I does a v'yage once in
one o' them tea-clippers, an' that were enuff racin' to last me my
time. What wi' carryin' on when it's blowin' great guns an' muckin'
around in the tropics with royal stuns'ls, save-alls, water-s'ls,
ringtails, an' sech-like superfloous pocket-handkerchers, it ain't no
game fur a white man."
"What was your ship, mate?" inquired the rover, looking up with
interest.
"Titania."
"I came home from Australia once in the Cutty Sark," said Jack
slowly.
"Lose any men?" asked Red Bill sharply.
"Well, off the Horn we did. Helmsman lost his head—let her run off,
whilst we were at the main braces. We shipped a big sea and lost
nine men overboard—two of them washed off the foreyard."
"I believe you, son," snorted the fiery-headed Bill. "That's the way wi'
them packets. Men's lives is nuffin' so long as they makes a good
passage."
"Men's lives!" growled Jack disdainfully. "Red Bill, you talk like a
softy! What do you come to sea for but to take the rough with the
smooth? When a man begins thinking of his life at sea, it's about
time he stopped ashore and turned counterjumper, ink-squirter, or
hayseed——"
"Go easy, mate, go easy!" put in Hank mildly.
"Well, I've got no patience when a man begins talking about his
precious life."
"Look 'ere!" began Red Bill hotly, "you jest take in the slack o' that
jaw-tackle o' yours, Jack Derringer. You're a sight too free wi' them
insinnivations. I ain't afraid o' you for all ye prize-fightin' tricks, so go
slow, or there'll be a slogging match."
"Bill," said the rolling-stone, with that catching smile of his, "shake
hands. You're a white man, and I take it all back. It was just you
talking of men's lives that roused my dander. I don't like to hear good
sailormen talk about their lives like so many frightened land-crabs. I
once went a yachting trip with three brass-bound, useless, chicken-
hearted clothes-props, and I tell you I got a sickener of 'my precious
life' talk.
"Things went well enough at first, when there was only just enough
wind to keep us moving—though I had my hands full, what with
cooking, steering, and doing all the dirty work; for though they were
all three big men, they were so fat and flabby they couldn't pull their
own weight on a rope or even hit a dent in a pat of butter; but we got
a bit of a blow heading over to the French coast from Falmouth, and
if ever I saw three badly scared, nerveless citizens, it was that
crowd.
"The boat was a snug little yawl, and as I was pressing her through it
pretty hard, things naturally got a bit wet, and now and again some
green water lopped aboard.
"Well, after they'd had their first experience of a big dollop, they all
turned on me.
"'Isn't it getting dangerous?' began the first uneasily.
"'Haven't we got too much sail for safety?' quavered the second.
"'Wouldn't it be risking our lives to go on?' stuttered the third. 'I'm
afraid——'
"'Any fool could see that,' I broke in, as I shoved her nose into a lump
of green water to cut short their chorus.
"After a good deal of spluttering they recovered sufficiently to give
tongue again.
"'I'm wet through,' whimpered one. 'I must go below and change my
things or I'll catch cold. D'you think it safe for me to leave the deck?'
"'I guess the deck can take care of itself all right,' I answered.
"'No, I don't mean that,' he said solemnly. 'I mean, if the boat turned
over when I was in the cabin, I should lose my life, I should be d-d-
drowned.'
"'By Jove, so you would!' I exclaimed, as if struck by the gravity of
the idea.
"'D'you really think it would be more dangerous below than here?'
put in another of the boobies anxiously.
"'You're all insured, ain't you?' I asked with a wooden face.
"'Yes,' they gulped as a spray took them; 'but for God's sake turn the
boat round and go back.'
"'Can't; too dangerous to run before this sea,' I declared, making a
big bluff.
"They were getting too much for my patience altogether, so with a
wild cry of 'Look out!' I shoved the helm over and soused them
again.
"This time I had them all as limp as a wet swab, and as the wave hit
them they screeched like so many frightened women. But directly the
water cleared off there was more tongue-wagging.
"'My God! I thought we were gone,' gasped one.
"Then the second booby let fly:
"'What an escape! A second longer and I should have been drowned
——'
"'How terrible!' I put in brutally.
"'Terrible? Yes, you're right. Isn't the sea awful? I've never been in
such danger in my life before.'
"'Nor ever will be again if you can help it, I expect,' I sneered.
"But their minds were too overwrought to take any notice of my
brutal speeches.
"'I thought I should burst——' began the fattest.
"'I've often thought you'd do that,' I cut in cheerfully.
"'——from holding my breath so long,' he finished, eyeing me
dismally.
"Well, the end of it all was, I got the unhappy trio below, battened 'em
down, and weathered it out by my lonesome. Twenty-seven hours at
the tiller! Ever since that cruise, whenever a man begins to talk about
his life being in danger, I begin to get hot in the collar."
"Land folk is certainly queer that way an' easily scared," commented
the pacified Red Bill.
"Gettin' scared is easy. The bigges' fire-eatin' son of a gun is scared
some time in his life; but it's givin' away your hand an' showin' you're
scared that gets you logged down as plumb nerveless an' no
account," remarked old Ben sagely.
"You're shore right, Ben," agreed Broncho. "It's the white-livered
coyote who can't keep his mental fears corralled who goes to drawin'
his gun when there ain't no need, an' gets over shootin' an' pluggin'
the wrong gent."
"Thet's so, pardner," grunted the gambler. "See this scar?" pointing
to a livid streak on his cheek-bone. "I gets that from a tenderfoot
back-east puppy as acts the way you mentions."
"He sartinly makes a greevious mistake that time," returned Broncho
ambiguously.
"He shore would ha' had a depitation o' thanks from his grateful
pards if he'd hit the bull's-eye, I reckon," rumbled old Ben in a loud
aside.
At this moment the bell went, and the watch on deck got hastily to
their feet, caught up caps, and knocked the ashes out of their pipes
before going aft.

Sometimes Broncho and Jack would sneak into the bosun's little
berth in the midshiphouse. Here the three of them, with pipes
smoking like chimneys, passed many a pleasant hour.
Over the bosun's bunk was the worn and faded photograph of a very
pretty girl. This picture seemed to attract the rolling-stone in some
strange way, for often he stared fixedly at it with a faraway look in his
eyes, as if he were peering back into the past and trying to recall
some half-forgotten memory.
One night, noticing his rapt gaze, the bosun remarked casually:
"Yes, she's a nice-lookin' gal, ain't she?"
"I beg your pardon!" said Jack hastily, the dark red flushing through
his tan. "I didn't mean to be rude, but that photograph reminds me of
somebody."
"Well, bein' as we're all good mates here," observed the bosun, "I'll
tell you the yarn. I never ain't married—I ain't that lucky, though I
walks out with scores o' gals in my time; but I on'y ever has one real
sweetheart, an' she was a clipper. She was——" He broke off, and
then resumed slowly, "That's 'er photo—she was second 'ousemaid
to Lord Arrendale" (Jack gave a sharp start of surprise).
"That's away back ten years or more," continued the bosun
reflectively; "then I goes off on a v'yage out East, thinkin' as how with
a big payday a-comin' I'd get spliced when I gets home again. But
my luck's dead out. I gets wrecked among the Islands, an' precious
near ate up, an' it's over four years afore I drops my mudhook in the
old cottage. Then I found my gal had gone an' left her place an'
disappeared." The strong man's eyes grew misty, and the deep voice
shook. "Well, I ups anchor an' beats up and down the whole country,
but I never meets up with my gal no more; so I goes to sea again,
and I ain't been ashore more'n two months all put together in the last
ten years.
"And do you think I ever forgets that gal o' mine? No, sir; she's as
dear to me, an' more, than she was in them days when I was a-
courtin'. I often envies folks that I sees married, all so comfort'ble in
their little bit o' home with the kids an' all. The likes o' them never
don't seem to realise their luck. It's us fellers who 'as no wife, nor
'ome, nor kids—who's in Shanghai one minit an' off the Horn the next
—it's us who spots their luck."
The bosun ceased and looked keenly at Jack.
"Ben Cray," said the latter earnestly but simply, reaching out his hand
and seizing the bosun's burly fist, "I'm sorry!"
Broncho stared; he had only heard the big Britisher addressed as
bosun, and did not know his real name, and he also thought that
Jack was in like ignorance up to that evening.
There was something going on behind the scenes which he could
not even guess at. He was a keen observer, and had noticed the
blush on the cheek of his friend.
"He's a hard-cut citizen, is Jack," thought the cowboy. "It takes a lot
to jump him offen his gyard."
"Ben," continued Jack, "you're a real white man. I remember her
now, poor little thing, and you too."
"I spotted you fust day you comes aboard, sir!"
"I didn't know, bosun; I've never been home since I went to sea, and
that was just before you went on that unlucky voyage."
"I see'd the ole lord last time I was back," began the bosun with
some hesitation; and then stopped, as if he would have liked to say
something more, but dared not.
"Hm!" muttered Jack indifferently, with mask-like face; but the keen-
eyed cowpuncher noticed a singular gleam in the rover's clear blue
orbs.
For a few moments there was silence, and then Broncho broke in:
"Talkin' of marriage, you shorely recalls my Juanita, don't you, Jack?"
"Certainly I do."
"Well," went on the cowboy, "I never gets my brand on to her, though
I near has the hobbles on more'n once."
"I'm very sorry to hear that, Broncho. I thought you were in double
harness long ago."
"Well, I never does fasten somehow, though I ropes at her
continuous; then one day she goes curvin' off with that ere miscreant
Montana Joe, which has me plumb disgusted. I just chucks a pair o'
blankets across my saddle, stuffs a wad o' notes in my war-bags, an'
lights right out. Finally I makes Frisco, where I gets to drownin' dull
care with nosepaint; an' I makes sech a success of that ere
undertakin' that I presently finds myself as you-alls knows."
"Sidelights out, hand on the look-out!" roared Black Davis from aft.
"Aye, aye, sir!" came back the answer, and night began.
The following evening Jack, Broncho, and the boy Jim were yarning
together on the foc's'le head, when a terrific uproar broke out on the
deck below them. There was a hurricane of deep-sea laughter, and
the next moment the small form of the cockney disengaged itself
from the crowd, and came dashing up the topgallant ladder.
"Jack!" he cried, "Jack, wot's a genelman?"
"Why, Jack is, er course," burst out the boy.
"I mean, wot mykes a genelman?"
The rest of the crowd were on his heels, and Curly, thrusting his way
through, burst out hotly.
"Hollins says a gentleman is a man with shiny pants and a stove-
pipe hat. What do you say, Jack?"
"Bedad! I on'y knoo one gintlemen," cried Pat, "an' he weren't one at
all at all."
"I see's a gentleman once," said Red Bill, "an' he had a bit er glass
stuck in his eye."
"When you-alls says gentleman," drawled Broncho, "you mean the
real brand, I surmise; for there's a greevious number o' gents a-
waltzin' around puttin' on frills an' bluffin' they're the thoroughbred
article, which same soon bogs down in one's eestimation as plumb
low an' ornery. What you-alls call gentlemen is gettin' 'most rar' as
buffaloes in these here wide-spread an' high-flung times; but when
you does cut their trails, you can bet a whole team you're goin' to be
duly impressed tharby."
"A gentleman's a cove wi' clean 'ands, 'coss he don't work," shouted
Jimmy Green excitedly from the edge of the crowd.
"You shut yer dirty 'ead! 'Oo asked you ter talk when able seamen's
around?" roared the cockney furiously. "Give that byby-face er clout,
will ye, Ben?"
Jimmy Green got his clout and retired from the contest.
"A gentleman's a sport who can sit down to a game o' poker an' lose
his dollars smiling," asserted the gambler.
"A gentleman's a tenderfoot who trails round buyin' salted claims,"
pronounced old Ben.
"I meets a shentlemans vonce vot I yumps a bag along vor, an' he
give me two bob; you bet dat's a shentleman's, my schmard fellers,"
grunted Muller.
"A gentleman has shiny boots," put in Pinto from the background,
with a nervous glance round as if he were taking a liberty.
"That's wot I sye," cried the cockney approvingly; "'e's a toff wi' shiny
pants an' shiny boots——"
"And a boiled shirt, I hope?" interrupted Jack, laughing.
"Well, h'I don' mean to insinnivate nuffin' agin you, Jack. We h'all
knows you is a real bang-up 'eavy swell when you've got your shore
togs on."
"I meets a genelman one time way down to Saint Louis, bigges'
genelman eber I see'd, an' he gib dis chile a clout on der ear an' say,
'Get out ob my way, yo dirty nigger,'" announced Sam.
"Well, 'ave you h'all done, for Gaud's syke?" inquired the cockney
loftily.
"Wall," said Hank slowly, "I calculate a gentleman's a cuss as is
some perlite. He don't spit on the floor——"
"Bedad, what does he do, thin?" broke in the astonished Pat.
"Why, spits in the spittoon!"
"Er course," agreed the cockney. "W'ere wos you brought h'up, Pat?"
"Seein' as 'ow each member o' this 'ere committee-meetin' 's 'ad 'is
sye," he went on, "h'I arise ter propose that we asts the opin'on o'
Jack Derringer, h'as bein' er h'expert on the subject."
"I shore seconds thet proposal," said Broncho, "though I nurses
certain views tharon which no expert is goin' to stampede me out of."
"Well," began Jack, as they all waited round silently, "it's a pretty big
subject; but my idea of a gentleman is a clean man who minds his
own business and'll go the limit for a pal—a man who plays his cards
straight and keeps a stiff upper lip."
"Thet ain't no gentleman, thet's a white man," exclaimed old Bedrock
Ben, with a shake of his head.
"Same thing, ought to be," replied Jack.
"Well, see 'ere, cocky, does you mean ter tell me a man can be a
genelman wivout no shiny pants nor nuffin'?" asked the astonished
cockney.
"Every Siwash is a gentleman when he's got his store-clothes on,
'cordin' t'you, Hollins," said Hank with contempt.
"What in hell air yew broken-down gin-soakers doin' forrard? Relieve
the wheel, yew scum, or I'll come an' knock yer durned ugly heads
off."
It was Black Davis on the rampage. The foc's'le head committee-
meeting broke up like a swarm of disturbed ants, and as they
crowded down the ladder the cockney called out:
"There's a genelman for ye, byes, a real genelman."
 CHAPTER VIII
"ON THE FOC'S'LE HEAD"
One Sunday afternoon in the south-east trades the foc's'le indulged
itself in another of those excitable debates which sailors on deep-
water ships love so much.
It was a superb South Pacific day, with a glinting sea and a sky full of
those fluffy white billowy clouds which painters so delight to seat
cherubs upon.
The upper strata of these sheep-backs moved faster than the lower,
as if engaged in a heavenly steeplechase, signifying an increase of
wind.
On the Higgins, for a wonder, peace reigned, for the old man and
Black Davis were both below taking a "stretch off the land," whilst the
bosun held the deck.
Forward both watches were assembled on the foc's'le head—some
stretched on their backs with eyes shut, others propped up against
the capstan or bitts pretending to sew or read.
Studpoker Bob, true to his bent in life, was rapidly appropriating
Hank's payday by aid of a very dirty pack of cards and a game
known as "Casino."
Close by sat Jack Derringer, patching a pair of oilskin pants, with the
cowboy prone beside him, a paint-covered, disreputable slouch hat
which had once been a "shore-enough Stetsin" hiding his face from
the glare of the sun.
Leaning against the port lighthouse, old Ben Sluice, with the aid of a
gigantic pair of spectacles perched on the tip of his nose, laboriously
spelt out a yellow-backed English society novel.
The cockney, with his head buried in his arms, lay face down on the
deck in the attitude beloved by the British Tommy Atkins, snoring like
a tired cross-cut saw; whilst Paddy at his side bent a wrinkled brow
upon a gigantic volume entitled, The Drainage of Europe.
Below on the maindeck Curly and the boy worked steadily upon a
mass of singlets and shirts, with the aid of the wash-deck tub.
Suddenly old Ben Sluice dropped his book, gave a slow look round,
and, catching Jack's eye, spoke:
"Jack, you've been learnt—eddicated as they say. What breed o'
coyote air these here book-sharps? What does they allow is their
long suit? Does this here benighted burro reckon he knows 'hoss'?
He don't know 'hoss' from 'jackass,' nor 'mewel' from 'dogy'; he's
green an' juicy a whole passel, like a fool-kid suckin' eggs an' actin'
smart."
"What's the trouble, Ben?"
"Why, look-a-here; this buckaroo clean gets me, fur a fact. I cain't
throw a squaw-hitch over his idees worth a cent. He has me driftin'
like lost sheep——"
"What cuts you, old son?" broke in Broncho, from behind his
sombrero.
"Wall, it's this way. Thar's a long-nose coon the book-sharp calls
Lord Edward, who didn't oughter be allowed round. He's a big auger,
too, way up on the trail.
"He goes buttin' round the landscape, a-hittin' it up high, a-discardin'
his dinero like as if he's a mine-boss an' a-soakin' up tanglefoot to
beat a sheepman; an' he's roped up a wife as pretty as a peach,
whom he don' pay no more attention to than if she's an empty bottle.
"He jest neglec's her complete 'cept with his tongue, which is that
mean an' ugly it gets her hot in the collar every time. Wall, she jest
sets thar an' wilts, an' don' pay no heed to nothin', though thar's a
whole mob o' softies floppin' round her like gapin' trout-fish, sayin' as
how hers weren't no dago dream o' paradise, till they gets mushy an'
maudlin' over her white face an' big eyes; an' thar ain't one of 'em,
with their soft talk, who's got the sand to up an' shoot the white outer
the high-falootin' eye of Lord Edward.
"Chucks! It makes me tired. Is they men or wax figgers? An' this here
book-sharp allows they're first-class broncho-twisters. But if they is
low-down skunks, the wimen bar this here put-upon Lady Beatrice is
shore rattlesnakes from away back, they're that venomous; an' they
fires out words at this here Lord Edward's wife as'd make a jack-
rabbit curl his tail, which same words carves out wounds in the pore
female like mushroom bullets. I'm a single-footer myself, an' ain't cut
the tracks o' many wimen bar squaws; nor yet want to, onless this
here book-sharp's brand o' female is a fake, which I shore reckon it
is."
"Women is mighty various," drawled the cowpuncher meditatively.
"Some is sweet as molasses, some's all venegar. One kind'll
stampede at the drop of a hat, another'll get balky an' jest set thar.
No, you can't play no system on women—the deal's a sight too
blotched."
"Then you allows this here book-sharp shows savvy in his idees?"
"Has these here rattlesnake females you discourses on many rings
on their horns?"
"Wall, I reckon their lustre is some faded, if that's a high kyard in the
deal."
"Which it shore enough is, for it's this way. When we-alls starts along
this mortal trail we're like colts friskin' about, allowin' it's a case o' jam
an' doughnuts cl'ar through. We shore sooner or later butts into
trouble, gets bogged, and is yanked out, an' goes on gettin' bogged
an' bein' yanked out till it gets to be a habit. But wi' wimen it's
different. Gettin' bogged that-a-way frets 'em, till they're feelin' as
ugly an' mean as Government pack-mules, an' they jest hankers to
shoot off their bazoo till they has some one howlin'; an' the more
rings they has on their horns the more they frets an' sets in to pull
the props out from under the fresher fillies an' side-track them into
the bog of disrepute."
Jack listened to this speech with half-shut eyes, and then half
muttered to himself:
"Men are a queer kind of beasts and women a queer kind of angels."
"I allow Broncho piles it on too thick," declared old Ben stubbornly,
not noticing Jack's remark.
"Bedad!" chimed in Paddy, roused from his book by the miner's deep
voice, "but my old woman's after bein' 'the pole o' me tent,' as they
say in the Seharey. Her spuds'd make the mouth o' the divil wather
sufeecient to put out old Mother Nick's galley-fire."
"Lawd, you surprise me, Pat!" exclaimed the cockney, rolling over on
his back and rubbing his eyes. "A bloomin' Don Juan like you
spliced? W'y, you're a disgryce."
"Be aisy, be aisy, an' don't call y'r brither names. What's a Don Juan,
any way?"
"A Don Juan is er sort er——" and Hollins broke off and scratched
his head for want of the proper word.
"I'll be after Don Juaning you with a black eye the minit before next,"
burst out Paddy fiercely, the suspicion breaking into his brain that he
was being insulted.
"Oh, go slow an' don't be so bloomin' gay," drawled the cockney
disdainfully. "You ain't the on'y lydy-killer on the beach, if you 'as got
an old Dutch peelin' spuds on yer h'ancestral mud-bank."
"The hen-breed is smooth goods s'long as yew don't get married
none; then they're sure p'ison," suddenly broke in Hank, with the sad
but self-satisfied look of a man of big experience in such matters.
"Thar, you're shore way off the range," exclaimed Broncho
emphatically. "A female which ain't hitched up in double harness is
as wo'thless in the game o' life as an ace which ain't drawed nothin'.
Her locoed parents is plumb chagrined to death, when, after chippin'
in a blue stack or two for the draw, they can't rake out even a hen-
ranche tough or a paper dude to yoke her up to. And, again, say
you-alls is a-aimin' to throw your rope over some high-steppin', head-
tossin' filly; what with you prancin' out in y'r store-clothes every time,
an' the dinero you-alls has to paw down in your war-bags for to
soothe her frettin's for doughnuts an' sech eadibles, it shore makes
your wad o' notes look some flat an' shrunk up. An' all the time you-
alls is a-frettin' an' a-frothin' an' feelin' chunked up, mebbe, one minit,
an' flatter than a flapjack the next. No, you draws no dividend on
women onless they're married. It's them yoked-up longhorns like
Paddy who gets a rake off the pot in this earthly game."
"I'm puttin' up my payday agen that deck-swab that yew ain't married
none, Broncho," returned Hank sourly.
"That's so, son, I ain't that lucky," drawled the cowpuncher. "I've
taken tickets more'n once, but I never ain't drawed nothin' I'm near
makin' a winnin' play with."
"I'd rather hev' had a blank than the winning number o' the lottery I
raked in my old woman with," growled the disillusioned Hank.
"Mebbe she reckons she ain't owin' Providence nothin' fur bliss gratis
when she gets down to the bedrock o' your vartues," remarked old
Ben Sluice, with a slow grin.
"Is that meant?" snarled Hank, rising to his feet. He was not in the
best of tempers—those who played cards long with Studpoker Bob
seldom were. "I'll soon show yew my vartues, my all-fired smartie,"
he growled, advancing on Ben in a menacing attitude. "I guess them
vartues'll raise some pretty considerable bumps on y'r ugly figger-
head."
"It's a foight, bedad!" exclaimed Paddy, delightedly. "Go it, ye
spalpeens! Git a move on your bump-raisin' operations, Hank, me
broth of a boy."
"Jest you backwater some," said Ben coolly, pulling out a capstan-
bar from the rack as Hank squared up to him.
Hank drew back uncertainly, for there was a nasty gleam in the old
miner's eyes.
"Crikey! but 'e's got the bulge on you, Hank, proper," grinned the
cockney appreciatively.
"I would shorely like to savvy what for you two lunattics is a-howlin'
for blood?" drawled Broncho, as he slowly proceeded to fill his pipe.
"This half-baked sluice-robber has the hell-freezin' nerve to
insinnivate that my old woman don't bank none on my vartues,"
explained the injured benedict ferociously.
Jack had been holding himself in up till now well enough, but this last
was too much for him, and, doubling up, he burst into a roar of
laughter, in which old Ben joined heartily, taking for granted that the
laugh was on his side of the deck.
"I guess Ben wouldn't think it so durned funny, if he'd drop that
handspike an' stand up like a man," snarled Hank.
"Book-sports allows as how it's women as causes mos' of the skin-
ticklin' in this ornery globe, an' I reckon they shore hits the bull's-eye
this time," remarked Broncho, sagely.
"What's the row?" broke in Curly excitedly, coming up the topgallant-
ladder in two bounds.
"W'y, swipe me if ole Ben ain't been an' hurted Hank's delikit
feelin's," explained the cockney.
"It's a cert, son, as how Hank ain't out to have his back scratched
that away. A wounded grizzly is mild an' dreamlike compared to
him," added Broncho, with a slow droop of his left eye.
"Vy don' you blunk 'im?" grunted the Dutchman's heavy voice,
addressing itself to Hank.
"Hell!" burst out the exasperated man. "If thet Dutch son of a carrion-
crow gives me any durned chin-chin, I'll ram his ugly pig's-eyes outer
the back of his head"; and Dutchy withered into his shell again.
"Look-a-here, partner, ain't you had 'bout enuff o' this low-grade
dust-raisin'," inquired Ben loftily; still, however, clinging to his trusty
capstan-bar. "'Cos thar goes four bells an' it's my wheel."
"Air you goin' to take in the slack o' them insinnivations?" demanded
Hank, with dignity.
"You jest step outer the trail an' let this outfit pass, or I reckon you'll
be shy considerable epidermis in another minit," growled old Ben
angrily, as Hank blocked his way down the topgallant-ladder.
"Wall! Dog my cats if I stand to that!" roared Hank, and he made a
wild rush at the old miner.
Ben lunged out furiously with the handspike, but the long, wiry down-
easter dodged the formidable weapon with catlike activity, and the
next moment they were "in holds," in the parlance of the prize-ring.
Clutched in each other's arms, they reeled across the foc's'le head
like hugging bears, and then down they came with a crash on the
deck.
"I'll learn yew to miscall a free-born American citizen, yew long-
ha'red dump-thief," screeched Hank, as they rolled over and he
came on top.
But with a desperate effort Ben reversed the positions, and as his
horny fingers gripped the other's hairy throat he growled like an
angry grizzly.
"You reckon you's ugly, but this child's uglier."
Hank tried hard to gurgle out a suitable retort, but his effort sounded
like the choke of a ship's pump. Wildly he clutched at the iron hands
on his throat, but in vain; he could not budge them. His breath began
to come in short gasps, his face to flush purple beneath the deep
tan, and his strength to leave him.
Both watches were now gathered round the two combatants, a ring
of excited faces.
The gambler was perched up on the capstan, and as he remarked
afterwards in describing the fight to Red Bill, who was all this time
waiting to be relieved at the wheel,
"I jest sits back in the peep-chair an' follows the run of the cards, like
it were a faro game."
The cockney, his face working with excitement, hopped up and down
like a cat on hot bricks, crying out,
"Sock it to 'im, Ben, sock it to 'im! Starboard watch fur ever!"
"Chucks! but Ben has him in one spin o' the wheel," remarked
Broncho to the rover. "This here's a freeze-out for Hank; he's
beginnin' to unwind melodies o' despair."
For Hank, in his effort to breathe, was groaning and grunting and
choking.
"Go easy, Ben; I think Hank's had about enough," interposed Jack,
leaning over and trying to drag him off the prostrate down-easter.
"Sticks to Hank closer'n bacon-rind," observed Broncho, watching
Jack's unavailing efforts.
"Help me get him off," panted the rover. "He'll choke the man in a
minute."
"That's some obvious—that 'possum ain't doin' no roll-over an' playin'
dead," drawled the cowboy composedly, as he lent Jack his aid.
"A man's finish is his own," put in the gambler, objecting to the
interference of the two friends.
"You jest hold your hand, my lively one-horse-saloon bottle-washer,
or I suspicion I'll have to tame you some," said the cowpuncher
contemptuously.
Then, with a terrific heave together, Jack and Broncho pulled old Ben
off Hank on to his feet.
Ben just stood there and looked at his victim, gasping on the deck.
"Mebbe that'll learn you some, mister; Ben Sluice don't allow no
Yankee wolf to come yowlin' blood round him without puttin' up a
breeze o' some sort"; and he turned on his heel, clambered down the
ladder, and went aft to relieve the wheel.
"Wake up, old son, an' take a new hold," said the cowpuncher kindly,
as Hank gave no signs of life except to roll his eyes and breathe in
harsh, jerky groans.
"Get us a bucket of water, Jim," called the rover.
The water had the desired effect. Hank's face assumed a more
healthy colour; he drew a deep breath and sat up.
"I'm feelin' some considerable used up," he muttered slowly; and
then he began to swear in that vivid, forcible way which obtains at
sea. Presently he rose to his feet and stood staggering, then lurched
forward like a drunken man and headed for the topgallant-ladder.
"He's shore as wobbly as a tenderfooted cow-hoss in a patch o'
cactus," remarked Broncho, as he noted Hank's tottering steps.
"I was all choked up in a minit; that minin' tough's fingers are like iron
clamps," threw back the other, as he carefully clawed his way down
on to the maindeck.
"And that h'ain't no josh, neither," declared the cockney feelingly. "'E
nearly 'as you garrotted inter dead meat, s'elp me bob."
"I allows Hank has all he wants," pronounced Broncho. "When
women is the theme o'discourse, gents o' savvy cash in an' quit;
thar's no knowin' which way the cat will hop. You're liable to get
creased or reap a skinful o' lead whichever way you plays your
hand."
And thus the argument finished.