A space structural mechanics model of silicene

Abstract

The two-dimensional nanostructures such as graphene, silicene, germanene, and stanene have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Many studies have been done on graphene, but other two-dimensional structures have not yet been studied extensively. In this work, a molecular dynamics simulation of silicene was done and stress–strain curve of silicene was obtained. Then, the mechanical properties of silicene were investigated using the proposed structural molecular mechanics method. First, using the relations governing the force field and the Lifson–Wershel potential function and structural mechanics relations, the coefficients for the BEAM elements was determined, and a structural mechanics model for silicene was proposed. Then, a silicene sheet with 65 Å × 65 Å was modeled, and Young’s modulus of silicene was obtained. In addition, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of silicene were calculated using finite element method. The results are in good agreement with reports by other papers.