Abstract
Based on a self-similar array model, we systematically investigated the axial Young's modulus
(
Y
axis
)
of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) arrays with diameters from nanometer to meter scales by an analytical approach. The results show that the
Y
axis
of SWNT arrays decreases dramatically with the increases of their hierarchy number
(
s
)
and is not sensitive to the specific size and constitution when
s
is the same, and the specific Young's modulus
Y
axis
s
is independent of the packing configuration of SWNTs. Our calculations also show that the
Y
axis
of SWNT arrays with diameters of several micrometers is close to that of commercial high performance carbon fibers (CFs), but the
Y
axis
s
of SWNT arrays is much better than that of high performance CFs.