Analytical modeling of dynamic behavior of piezo-thermo-electrically affected sigmoid and power-law graded nanoscale beams

Abstract

In the present study, thermo-electro-mechanical vibration characteristics of both sigmoid and power-law functionally graded piezoelectric (FGP) nanobeams subjected to in-plane thermal loads and applied electric voltage are carried out by presenting a Navier-type solution for the first time. Three kinds of thermal loading, namely uniform, linear and nonlinear temperature rises through the thickness direction are considered. Thermo-electro-mechanical properties of FGP nanobeam are supposed to vary smoothly and continuously throughout the thickness according to power-law and sigmoid distribution. Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory is exploited to describe the size dependency of nanobeam. Using Hamilton’s principle, the nonlocal equations of motion together with corresponding boundary conditions are obtained for the free vibration analysis of graded piezoelectric nanobeams including size effect and they are solved applying analytical solution. According to the numerical results, it is revealed that the proposed modeling can provide accurate frequency results of the FG nanobeams as compared some cases in the literature. In following a parametric study is accompanied to examine the effects of the several parameters such as various temperature distributions, external electric voltage, different material compositions, nonlocal parameter and mode number on the natural frequencies of the size-dependent FGP nanobeams in detail. It is found that the small scale effect and thermo-electrical loading have a significant effect on natural frequencies of FGP nanobeams. The results should be relevant to the design and application of the piezoelectric nanodevices.