A Size-Dependent Generalized Thermoelasticity Theory for Thermoelastic Damping in Vibrations of Nanobeam Resonators

Abstract

Thermoelastic damping (TED) has been discerned as a definite source of intrinsic energy loss in miniaturized mechanical elements. The size-dependent structural and thermal behavior of these small-sized structures has been proven through experimental observations. As a first attempt, this article exploits nonlocal strain gradient theory (NSGT) and nonlocal dual-phase-lag (NDPL) heat conduction model simultaneously to acquire a mathematical formulation and analytical solution for TED in nanobeams that can accommodate size effect into both structural and heat transfer fields. For this purpose, the coupled equations of motion and heat conduction are firstly extracted via NSGT and NDPL model. Next, by deriving the distribution of temperature from heat conduction equation and substituting it in the motion equation, the unconventional thermoelastic frequency equation is established. By deriving the real and imaginary parts of the frequency from this equation and employing the definition of quality factor, an explicit solution is given for approximating TED value. The veracity of the proposed model is checked by comparing it with the solutions reported in the literature for specific and simpler cases. A diverse set of numerical results is then presented to appraise the influence of some factors like structural and thermal nonlocal parameters, strain gradient length scale parameter, geometrical parameters, mode number and material on the amount of TED. According to the results, use of NDPL model yields a smaller value for TED than DPL model, but prediction of NSGT about the magnitude of TED, in addition to the relative amounts of its two scale parameters, strongly depend on other factors such as aspect ratio, vibration mode and material type.