Sound radiation analysis with an enriched Timoshenko beam model based on second strain gradient theory

In the present manuscript, the second strain gradient (SSG) is utilized to investigate the primary resonance of a nonlinear Euler-Bernoulli nanobeam is analyzed in this paper for the first time. To that end, the second strain gradient theory, a higher-order continuum theory capable of taking the size effects into account, is utilized and the governing equation of the motion for an Euler-Bernoulli nanobeam is derived with sixteen higher-order material constants. Then by implementing the Galerkin’s method,the Duffing equation for the vibration of a hinged-hinged nanobeam is obtained and its primary resonance is studied utilizing the method of multiple scales. The size effects and impact of various system parameters on the amplitude of the response are then investigated for three different materials and the results are compared to thatof the first strain gradient and classical theories. The results of this manuscript clearly shows that the nonlinear vibration of a second strain gradient nanobeam is size-dependent and although the difference between the results obtained by the second strain gradient theory and the first strain gradient theory is negligible for thicker beams, as the thickness decreases, the difference becomes more prominent. Also, the effects of nonlinearity on the forced vibration nonlinear response of an SSG beam are investigated and some observations are reported.

Thermoelastic analysis of rotating functionally graded micro/nanodisks of variable thickness

The classical continuum theory not only underestimates the stiffness of microscale structures such as microbeams but is also unable to capture the size dependency, a phenomenon observed in these structures. Hence, the non-classical continuum theories such as the strain gradient elasticity have been developed. In this paper, a Timoshenko beam finite element is developed based on the strain gradient theory and employed to evaluate the mechanical behavior of microbeams used in microelectromechanical systems. The new beam element is a comprehensive beam element that recovers the formulations of strain gradient Euler–Bernoulli beam element, modified couple stress (another non-classical theory) Timoshenko and Euler–Bernoulli beam elements, and also classical Timoshenko and Euler–Bernoulli beam elements; note that the shear-locking phenomenon will not happen for the new Timoshenko beam element. The stiffness and mass matrices of the new element are derived in closed forms by following an energy-based approach and using Hamilton’s principle. It is noted that unlike the classical beam elements, the stiffness matrix of the new element has a size-dependent nature that can capture the size-dependent behavior of microbeams. The shape functions of the newly developed beam element are determined by solving the equilibrium equations of strain gradient Timoshenko beams, which brings about a size-dependent characteristic for them. The new beam element is employed to evaluate the static deflection of a microcantilever, and the results are compared to the experimental data as well as the results obtained by using the classical beam element and the couple stress plane element. The new beam element is also implemented to calculate the static deflection, vibration frequency, and pull-in voltage of electrostatically actuated microbeams. The current results are compared to the experimental data as well as the classical FEM outcomes. It is observed that the results of the new element are in excellent agreement with the experimental data while the gap between the experimental and classical FEM results is significant.

The usual continuum theories are inadequate in predicting the mechanical behavior of solids in the presence of small defects and stress concentrators; it is well known that such continuum methods are unable to detect the change of the size of the inhomogeneities and defects. For these reasons various augmented continuum theories and strain gradient theories have been proposed in the literature. The major difficulty in implication of these theories lies in the lack of information about the additional material constants which appear in such theories. For fcc metals, for the calculation of the associated characteristic lengths which arise in first strain gradient theory, an atomistic approach based on the Sutton–Chen interatomic potential function is proposed. For the validity of the computed characteristic lengths, the phenomenon of the size effect pertinent to a nano-sized circular void within an fcc (111) plane is examined via both first strain gradient theory and lattice statics. Comparison of the results explains the physical ramifications of the characteristic lengths in improving the usual continuum results. Moreover, by reconsideration of the Kelvin problem it is shown that a commonly employed variant of the first strain gradient theory is only valid for a few fcc metals.

Modeling deformation of auxetic and non-auxetic polymer gels

The governing equations of motion, together with the associated boundary conditions, are derived for the second strain gradient Timoshenko micro- and nano-beams. The second strain gradient theory is a highly powerful nonclassical continuum theory, capable of capturing the size effects in micro- and nano-scale structures. In case studies, the static and free-vibration behaviors of a hinged–hinged beam are investigated utilizing the presented second strain gradient theory-based Timoshenko beam model. The obtained results are compared with those of the available models in the literature, which are based on the (first) strain gradient theory, the modified couple stress theory, and the classical continuum theory.

We recently proposed a strain gradient theory to account for the size dependence of plastic deformation at micron and submicron length scales. The strain gradient theory includes the effects of both rotation gradient and stretch gradient such that the rotation gradient influences the material character through the interaction between the Cauchy stresses and the couple stresses; the stretch gradient measures explicitly enter the constitutive relations through the instantaneous tangent modulus. Indentation tests at scales on the order of one micron have shown that measured hardness increases significantly with decreasing indent size. In the present paper, the strain gradient theory is used to model materials undergoing small-scale indentations. A strong effect of including strain gradients in the constitutive description is found with hardness increasing by a factor of two or more over the relevant range behavior. Comparisons with the experimental data for polycrystalline copper and single crystal copper indeed show an approximately linear dependence of the square of the hardness, H 2, on the inverse of the indentation depth, 1/h, I.e., H-2 proportional to 1/h, which provides an important self-consistent check of the strain gradient theory proposed by the authors earlier.

Recent experiments have shown that the microscale material behavior is very different from that of bulk materials, and displays strong size effects when the characteristic length associated with the deformation is on the order of microns. Conventional continuum theories, however, can not predict this size dependence because they do not have an intrinsic length in their constitutive models. A new continuum theory, namely the strain gradient theory, has been proposed to investigate the deformation of solids at the microscale. For materials undergoing plastic deformation, the basis of strain gradient theory is the dislocation theory in materials science, and strain gradient plasticity has agreed remarkably well with experiments. For elastic materials with microstructures, it has also been established that the material behavior can be represented by an elastic strain gradient theory. A general approach to investigate fracture of materials with strain gradient effects is established. Both the near-tip asymptotic fields and the elastic full-field solutions are obtained in closed form. Due to stain gradient effects, stresses ahead of a crack tip are significantly higher than those in the classical K field. The plastic zone size surronunding a crack tip is estimated by elastic near-tip fields, as well as by the Dugdale model. It is established that the plastic zone is, in general, much more round and larger than that estimated from the classical K field.

This work is concerned with transverse vibrations of axially traveling nanobeams including strain gradient and thermal effects. The strain gradient elasticity theory and the temperature field are taken into consideration. A new higher-order differential equation of motion is derived from the variational principle and the corresponding higher-order non-classical boundary conditions including simple, clamped, cantilevered supports and their higher-order "offspring" are established. Effects of strain gradient nanoscale parameter, temperature change, shape parameter and axial traction on the natural frequencies are presented and discussed through some numerical examples. It is concluded that the factors mentioned above significantly influence the dynamic behaviors of an axially traveling nanobeam. In particular, the strain gradient effect tends to induce higher vibration frequencies as compared to an axially traveling macro beams based on the classical vibration theory without strain gradient effect.

In this paper, three size-dependent formulations are developed for the analysis of Timoshenko nanobeams with various end conditions based on the nonlocal and strain gradient theories. The nonlocal governing equations are presented based on the stress-driven model of Eringen’s theory. First, a strain gradient Timoshenko beam model is developed. The governing equations of the integral stress-driven model, and then those of differential stress-driven model together with associated constitutive boundary conditions are obtained in the next step. With the aim of addressing the static bending and free vibration problems, the nonlocal governing equations in integral form are directly solved by constructing matrix differential and integral operators. Furthermore, the governing equations in differential form together with constitutive boundary conditions are discretized and solved via the mentioned operators. It is shown that there is a good agreement between the results obtained from solving the integral and differential governing equations of stress-driven nonlocal models. Several comparative studies are also conducted for the bending and vibration analyses of nanobeams based on the strain gradient and stress-driven nonlocal models. The results reveal that in both models, increasing the nonlocal/length scale parameter has a stiffening effect on the response of the system. However, the stiffening effect corresponding to the strain gradient model is more pronounced than that corresponding to the stress-driven nonlocal model.

In this paper, the flexural free vibrations of three dimensional micro beams are investigated based on strain gradient theory. The most general form of the strain gradient theory which contains five higher-order material constants has been applied to the micro beam to take the small-scale effects into account. Having considered the Euler-Bernoulli beam model, governing equations of motion are written by utilizing the Hamilton’s principle. Then, the state-space solution technique is used to find some solutions for natural frequencies of the beam under various boundary conditions. The numerical results show that the resonant frequencies are significantly dependent on the length scale parameter of the micro beam. The less the non-dimensional length scale is, the more deviation appears between results obtained for natural frequencies of micro shaft by strain gradient theory and classical continuum theory. Moreover, except for a micro shaft which is simply supported at both ends, the extra type of boundary conditions emerges from using strain gradient theory significantly affects the results.

The objective of the present paper is to show that predictions of the conventional strain gradient theories do not coincide with some general physical expectations when large strains and geometry changes should be considered. As an alternative, it is proposed to use strain rate gradient theories of plasticity. One possible theory of this type is formulated as a formal modification of a strain gradient theory of plasticity. The problem of hollow sphere expansion at large strains is solved for both the strain gradient and strain rate gradient theories of plasticity. Comparison of these solutions reveals advantages of the strain rate gradient theory of plasticity for a class of problems.

Non-linear behaviors of carbon nanotubes under electrostatic actuation based on strain gradient theory

Determination of length scale parameters of strain gradient continuum theory for crystalline solids using a computational quantum mechanical model based on density functional theory

Experiments and theory in strain gradient elasticity