In this article, an improved 3D finite element (FE) model of low velocity transverse impact on armchair and zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been developed. Numerical examples for estimating the Young’s modulus of nanotubes are presented based on explicit and implicit analysis to illustrate the accuracy of this simulation technique. Based on explicit finite element model, the maximum dynamic deflections of single-walled carbon nanotubes with different boundary conditions, geometries as well as chiralities are obtained and then compared with theory investigation. Impact of a mass on simply supported and clamped nanobeams are investigated by using nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theory. The simulation results demonstrated good agreement with analytical results based on Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko nonlocal theory. When the aspect ratio is increased, the maximum dynamic deflection at the center of the beam is increased for both of the simply supported and the clamped-clamped nanobeams. The inclusion of the nonlocal effect increases the magnitudes of dynamic deflections. The dynamic deflections predicted by the classical theory are always smaller than those predicted by the nonlocal theory due to the nonlocal effects.