Effects of viscous fluid on wave propagation in carbon nanotubes

In this Letter, the effects of the viscous fluid on the propagation characteristics of elastic waves in carbon nanotubes are studied. Based on the nonlocal continuum theory, the small scales effects are also considered. The equations of wave motion are derived and the dispersion relation is presented. Numerical simulations are performed with the consideration of different scale coefficients to discuss the influence of the viscous fluid. From the results, it can be observed that the dispersion relation can be changed by the fluid viscosity obviously. Moreover, due to the fluid viscosity, the wave frequency will be reduced to a low region and the elastic wave behaviors can be significantly influenced by the viscous fluid velocity.