Positive solutions of the nonlinear fourth-order beam equation with three parameters

This paper is concerned with the existence and nonexistence of positive solutions of the nonlinear fourth-order beam equation u(4)(t)+ηu^″(t)−ζu(t)=λf(t,u(t)), 0<t<1, u(0)=u(1)=u^″(0)=u^″(1)=0, where is continuous and ζ, η and λ are parameters. We show that there exists a such that the above boundary value problem (BVP) has at least two, one and no positive solutions for 0<λ<λ^*, λ=λ^* and λ>λ^*, respectively. Furthermore, by using the semiorder method on cones of Banach space, we establish a uniqueness criterion for positive solution of the BVP. In particular such a positive solution uλ(t) of the BVP depends continuously on the parameter λ, i.e., uλ(t) is nondecreasing in λ, limλ→⁰⁺‖uλ(t)‖=0 and limλ→+∞‖uλ(t)‖=+∞ for any t∈[0,1].