Effects of Nonlinear Damping on Vibrations of Microbeam

Abstract

The present paper develops a new Bernoulli–Euler theory of microbeams for the consideration of small-scale effects and nonlinear terms, which are induced by the axial elongation of the beam and Kelvin–Voigt damping. The non-resonance and primary resonance of microbeams are researched through the application of Galerkin and multiple scale methods to the new model. The results suggest the following: (1) Nonlinear damping slightly affects the vibration amplitudes under the non-resonance condition; (2) nonlinear damping can significantly change the bifurcation points that induce a jump in the vibration amplitudes under the primary resonance condition. The current researches indicate that nonlinear damping is necessary for an accurate description of microbeam vibrations.