Nonlocal plate model for free vibrations of single-layered graphene sheets

Vibration analysis of single-layered graphene sheets (SLGSs) is investigated using nonlocal continuum plate model. To this end, Eringens's nonlocal elasticity equations are incorporated into the classical Mindlin plate theory for vibrations of rectangular nanoplates. In contrast to the classical model, the nonlocal model developed in this study has the capability to evaluate the natural frequencies of the graphene sheets with considering the size-effects on the vibrational characteristics of them. Solutions for frequencies of the free vibration of simply-supported and clamped SLGSs are computed using generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method. Then, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for the free vibration of various SLGSs with different values of side length and chirality are employed, the results of which are matched with the nonlocal model ones to derive the appropriate values of the nonlocal parameter relevant to each boundary condition. It is found that the value of the nonlocal parameter is independent of the magnitude of the geometrical variables of the system.     

Nonlocal shear deformable shell model for bending buckling of microtubules embedded in an elastic medium

A nonlocal shear deformable shell model is developed for buckling of microtubules embedded in an elastic matrix of cytoplasm under bending in thermal environments. The results reveal that the lateral constraint has a significant effect on the buckling moments of a microtubule when the foundation stiffness is sufficiently large.     

Atomistic finite element model for axial buckling and vibration analysis of single-layered graphene sheets

In this article, an atomistic model is developed to study the buckling and vibration characteristics of single-layered graphene sheets (SLGSs). By treating SLGSs as space-frame structures, in which the discrete nature of graphene sheets is preserved, they are modeled using three-dimensional elastic beam elements for the bonds. The elastic moduli of the beam elements are determined via a linkage between molecular mechanics and structural mechanics. Based on this model, the critical compressive forces and fundamental natural frequencies of single-layered graphene sheets with different boundary conditions and geometries are obtained and then compared. It is indicated that the compressive buckling force decreases when the graphene sheet aspect ratio increases. At low aspect ratios, the increase of aspect ratios will result in a significant decrease in the critical buckling load. It is also indicated that increasing aspect ratio at a given side length results in the convergence of buckling envelops associated with armchair and zigzag graphene sheets. The influence of boundary conditions will be studied for different geometries. It will be shown that the influence of boundary conditions is not significant for sufficiently large SLGSs.     

A general nonlocal beam theory: Its application to nanobeam bending, buckling and vibration

In the present study, a generalized nonlocal beam theory is proposed to study bending, buckling and free vibration of nanobeams. Nonlocal constitutive equations of Eringen are used in the formulations. After deriving governing equations, different beam theories including those of Euler–Bernoulli, Timoshenko, Reddy, Levinson and Aydogdu [Compos. Struct., 89 (2009) 94] are used as a special case in the present compact formulation without repeating derivation of governing equations each time. Effect of nonlocality and length of beams are investigated in detail for each considered problem. Present solutions can be used for the static and dynamic analyses of single-walled carbon nanotubes.     

Vibration analysis of defective graphene sheets using nonlocal elasticity theory

Many papers have studied the free vibration of graphene sheets. However, all this papers assumed their atomic structure free of any defects. Nonetheless, they actually contain some defects including single vacancy, double vacancy and Stone-Wales defects. This paper, therefore, investigates the free vibration of defective graphene sheets, rather than pristine graphene sheets, via nonlocal elasticity theory. Governing equations are derived using nonlocal elasticity and the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The influence of structural defects on the vibration of graphene sheets is considered by applying the mechanical properties of defective graphene sheets. Afterwards, these equations solved using generalized differential quadrature method (GDQ). The small-scale effect is applied in the governing equations of motion by nonlocal parameter. The effects of different defect types are inspected for graphene sheets with clamped or simply-supported boundary conditions on all sides. It is shown that the natural frequencies of graphene sheets decrease by introducing defects to the atomic structure. Furthermore, it is found that the number of missing atoms, shapes and distributions of structural defects play a significant role in the vibrational behavior of graphene. The effect of vacancy defect reconstruction is also discussed in this paper.     

Free vibration of an embedded single-walled carbon nanotube with various boundary conditions using the RMVT-based nonlocal Timoshenko beam theory and DQ method

The nonlocal Timoshenko beam theories (TBTs), based on the Reissner mixed variation theory (RMVT) and principle of virtual displacement (PVD), are derived for the free vibration analysis of a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) embedded in an elastic medium and with various boundary conditions. The strong formulations of the nonlocal TBTs are derived using Hamilton's principle, in which Eringen's nonlocal constitutive relations are used to account for the small-scale effect. The interaction between the SWCNT and its surrounding elastic medium is simulated using the Winkler and Pasternak foundation models. The frequency parameters of the embedded SWCNT are obtained using the differential quadrature (DQ) method. In the cases of the SWCNT without foundations, the results of RMVT- and PVD-based nonlocal TBTs converge rapidly, and their convergent solutions closely agree with the exact ones available in the literature. Because the highest order with regard to the derivatives of the field variables used in the RMVT-based nonlocal TBT is lower than that used in its PVD-based counterpart, the former is more efficient than the latter with regard to the execution time. The former is thus both faster and obtains more accurate solutions than the latter for the numerical analysis of the embedded SWCNT.     

Nonlinear size-dependent longitudinal vibration of carbon nanotubes embedded in an elastic medium

In this paper, we study the longitudinal linear and nonlinear free vibration response of a single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) embedded in an elastic medium subjected to different boundary conditions. This formulation is based on a large deformation analysis in which the linear and nonlinear von Kármán strains and their gradient are included in the expression of the strain energy and the velocity and its gradient are taken into account in the expression of the kinetic energy. Therefore, static and kinetic length scales associated with both energies are introduced to model size effects. The governing motion equation along with the boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton's principle. Closed-form solutions for the linear free vibration problem of the embedded CNT rod are first obtained. Then, the nonlinear free vibration response is investigated for various values of length scales using the method of multiple scales.     

A simplified shear and normal deformations nonlocal theory for bending of nanobeams in thermal environment

This article presents a simplified three-unknown shear and normal deformations nonlocal beam theory for the bending analysis of nanobeams in thermal environment. Eringen's nonlocal constitutive equations are considered in the analysis. Governing equations are derived according to the present refined theory using Hamilton's principle. Central deflections of nanobeams under uniform and point loads are given and compared with the available ones in the literature. Additional results of displacement and stresses are presented for future comparison. The effects of nonlocality, temperature parameters, length of beam, length-to-depth ratio as well as shear and normal strains are all investigated.     

Small variations in the sheet resistance of graphene layers with compressive and tensile bending

We synthesized graphene on copper foil by chemical vapor deposition using H₂ and CH₄ gases, followed by transferring the synthesized graphene onto various substrates. Controlling the number of layers was achieved through the variation of transfer times, and the variations of sheet resistance and transmittance with the number of layers were measured. We also investigated the variation of resistance with the radius of curvature of graphene film. As the radius decreased, the resistance increased with tensile bending and decreased with compressive bending. However, the degree of changing resistance is small enough to be applicable into flexible devices. The resistance of monolayer graphene was found to be varied in the range of as small as ±3% by the tensile or compressive bending. It was further found that although the degree of changing resistance gets larger with increasing number of graphene, the tensile bending increased the resistance by less than 20% even in case of four layer graphene.     

Thermo-electro-mechanical vibration of coupled piezoelectric-nanoplate systems under non-uniform voltage distribution embedded in Pasternak elastic medium

In the present paper, the thermo-electro-mechanical vibration characteristics of a piezoelectric-nanoplate system (PNPS) embedded in a polymer matrix are investigated. The system is subjected to a non-uniform voltage distribution. The voltage distribution and in-plane preloads are very important in the resonance mode of smart composite nanostructures using PNPS. Small scale effects are taken into consideration using the nonlocal continuum mechanics. Hamilton's principle is employed to derive the nonlocal equations of motion. The governing equations are solved for various boundary conditions by using differential quadrature method (DQM). To verify the accuracy of the present results, a closed-form solution is also derived for the natural frequencies of simply supported PNPSs. The results of DQM are compared with those of exact solution and an excellent agreement is found. Finally, the effects of initial preload, temperature change, boundary conditions, aspect ratio, length-to-thickness ratio, nonlocal and non-uniform parameters on the vibration characteristics of PNPSs are studied. It is shown that the natural frequencies are quite sensitive to the non-uniform and nonlocal parameters.     

Nonlocal vibration of SWBNNT embedded in bundle of CNTs under a moving nanoparticle

In this study, an analytical method of the small scale parameter on the vibration of single-walled Boron Nitride nanotube (SWBNNT) under a moving nanoparticle is presented. SWBNNT is embedded in bundle of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which is simulated as Pasternak foundation. Using Euler–Bernoulli beam (EBB) model, Hamilton's principle and nonlocal piezoelasticity theory, the higher order governing equation is derived. The effects of electric field, elastic medium, slenderness ratio and small scale parameter are investigated on the vibration behavior of SWBNNT under a moving nanoparticle. Results indicate the importance of using surrounding elastic medium in decrease of normalized dynamic deflection. Indeed, the normalized dynamic deflection decreases with the increase of the elastic medium stiffness values. The electric field has significant role on the nondimensional fundamental frequencies, as a smart controller. The results of this work is hoped to be of use in design and manufacturing of smart nano-electro-mechanical devices in advanced medical applications such as drug delivery systems with great applications in biomechanics.     

In-plane vibration analysis of curved carbon nanotubes conveying fluid embedded in viscoelastic medium

The effect of the induced vibrations in the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) arising from the internal fluid flow is a critical issue in the design of CNT-based fluidic devices. In this study, in-plane vibration analysis of curved CNTs conveying fluid embedded in viscoelastic medium is investigated. The CNT is modeled as a linear elastic cylindrical tube where the internal moving fluid is characterized by steady flow velocity and mass density of fluid. A modified-inextensible theory is used in formulation and the steady-state initial forces due to the centrifugal and pressure forces of the internal fluid are also taken into account. The finite element method is used to discretize the equation of motion and the frequencies are obtained by solving a quadratic eigenvalue problem. The effects of CNT opening angle, the elastic modulus and the damping factor of the viscoelastic surrounded medium and fluid velocity on the resonance frequencies are elucidated. It is shown that curved CNTs are unconditionally stable even for a system with sufficiently high flow velocity. The most results presented in this investigation have been absent from the literature for fluid-induced vibration of curved CNTs embedded in viscoelastic foundations.     

Free vibration characteristics of double-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in an elastic medium

In this Letter, a theoretical analysis of the resonant vibration of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) and the DWCNTs embedded in an elastic medium is presented based on Euler-Bernoulli beam model and Winkler spring model. The vibration modes of DWCNTs are quite different from those of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). The resonant vibrations of DWCNTs are found to have in-phase and anti-phase modes, in which the deflections of the inner and outer nanotubes occur in the same and opposite directions, respectively. For the vibration of DWCNTs with the same harmonic numbers, the resonant frequencies of anti-phase mode are larger than the ones of in-phase mode. Moreover, influence of the surrounding medium on the resonant vibrations is investigated using the Winkler spring model. The results show that surrounding medium makes a strong impact on the vibration frequencies of in-phase mode, but little on those of anti-phase mode.     

Nonlinear vibration of carbon nanotube embedded in viscous elastic matrix under parametric excitation by nonlocal continuum theory

In the present work, the nonlinear vibration of a carbon nanotube which is subjected to the external parametric excitation is studied. By the nonlocal continuum theory and nonlinear von Kármán beam theory, the governing equation of the carbon nanotube is derived with the consideration of the large deformation. The principle parametric resonance of the nanotube is discussed and the approximation explicit solution is presented by the multiple scale method. Numerical calculations are performed. It can be observed that when the mode number is 1, the stable region can be significantly changed by the parametric excitation, length-to-diameter ratio and matrix stiffness. This phenomenon becomes different to appear if the mode number increases. Moreover, the small scale effects have great influences on the positive bifurcation point for the short carbon nanotube, and the nonlocal continuum theory can present the proper model.     

Nonlocal three-dimensional theory of elasticity with application to free vibration of functionally graded nanoplates on elastic foundations

In the present work, a three-dimensional (3D) elastic plate model capturing the small scale effects is developed for the free vibration of functionally graded (FG) nanoplates resting on elastic foundations. The theoretical model is formulated employing the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen in conjunction with the 3D equations of motion of elasticity.The material properties are assumed to vary continuously along the thickness of the nanoplate in accordance with the power law formulation. Through extending the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method to the three-dimensional case, the governing equations are simultaneously discretized in every three coordinate directions and are then recast to the standard form of an eigen value problem. Solving the acquired problem, the natural frequencies of the nanoplates with different boundary conditions are calculated. The convergence behavior of the numerical results is checked out and comparison studies are conducted to make sure of the accuracy and reliability of the present model. Finally, the dependence of the vibration behavior of the nanoplate on edge conditions, elastic coefficients of the foundation, scale coefficient, mode number, material and geometric parameters are discussed.     

Longitudinal waves in carbon nanotubes in the presence of transverse magnetic field and elastic medium

In the present paper, the coupling effect of transverse magnetic field and elastic medium on the longitudinal wave propagation along a carbon nanotube (CNT) is studied. Based on the nonlocal elasticity theory and Hamilton's principle, a unified nonlocal rod theory which takes into account the effects of small size scale, lateral inertia and radial deformation is proposed. The existing rod theories including the classic rod theory, the Rayleigh-Love theory and Rayleigh-Bishop theory for macro solids can be treated as the special cases of the present model. A two-parameter foundation model (Pasternak-type model) is used to represent the elastic medium. The influence of transverse magnetic field, Pasternak-type elastic medium and small size scale on the longitudinal wave propagation behavior of the CNT is investigated in detail. It is shown that the influences of lateral inertia and radial deformation cannot be neglected in analyzing the longitudinal wave propagation characteristics of the CNT. The results also show that the elastic medium and the transverse magnetic field will also affect the longitudinal wave dispersion behavior of the CNT significantly. The results obtained in this paper are helpful for understanding the mechanical behaviors of nanostructures embedded in an elastic medium.     

Spatial variation in the electronic structures of carpetlike graphene nanoribbons and sheets

Graphene, when deposited on a supporting substrate with a step edge, may be deformed in the presence of the step edges of the substrate. In this study, we have investigated a spatial variation in the local electronic structure near the step region, by performing first-principles calculations for carpetlike armchair graphene nanoribbons (C-AGNR) and two-dimensional periodic carpetlike graphene sheets (PCGS). Our results indicate no practical difference in the local density of states (LDOS) between those of flat and step regions. Interestingly, however, the PCGS shows a remarkable variation in the LDOS with an external electric field (E-field). Furthermore, we also discuss the dependence of the direction and the magnitude of the applied E-field on the spatial variation in the LDOS.     

Free vibration analysis of multi-layer graphene nanoribbons incorporating interlayer shear effect via molecular dynamics simulations and nonlocal elasticity

Free vibration of cantilever multi-layer graphene nanoribbons (MLGNRs) with interlayer shear effect is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and nonlocal elasticity. Because of similarity of MLGNRs to sandwich structures, sandwich formulations are expressed in the nonlocal form. By comparing the first two frequencies of MLGNRs with various layers and lengths obtained using MD simulations with those of the nonlocal sandwich formulation; the nonlocal parameter is calibrated to match the results of two methods. The results reveal that the calibrated nonlocal parameter for predicting the second frequencies is dependent on the number of MLGNR layers, and it increases by increasing the number of layers.     

Longitudinal vibration and instabilities of carbon nanotubes conveying fluid considering size effects of nanoflow and nanostructure

In this study, the effects of small-scale of the both nanoflow and nanostructure on the vibrational response of fluid flowing single-walled carbon nanotubes are investigated. To this purpose, two various flowing fluids, the air-nano-flow and the water nano-flow using Knudsen number, and two different continuum theories, the nonlocal theory and the strain-inertia gradient theory are studied. Nano-rod model is used to model the fluid-structure interaction, and Galerkin method of weighted residual is utilizing to solve and discretize the governing obtained equations. It is found that the critical flow velocity decreases as the wave number increases, excluding the first mode divergence that it has the least value among of the other instabilities if the strain-inertia gradient theory is employed. Moreover, it is observed that Kn effect has considerable impact on the reduction of critical velocities especially for the air-flow flowing through the CNT. In addition, by increasing a nonlocal parameter and Knudsen number the critical flow velocity decreases but it increases as the characteristic length related to the strain-inertia gradient theory increases.     

Vibration and buckling analyses of nanobeams embedded in an elastic medium

Boundary characteristic orthogonal polynomials are used as shape functions in the Rayleigh–Ritz method to investigate vibration and buckling of nanobeams embedded in an elastic medium. The present formulation is based on the nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. The eigen value equation is developed for the buckling and vibration analyses. The orthogonal property of these polynomials makes the computation easier with less computational effort. It is observed that the frequency and critical buckling load parameters are dependent on the temperature, elastic medium, small scale coefficient,and length-to-diameter ratio. These observations are useful in the mechanical design of devices that use carbon nanotubes.