Electromechanical response of a curved piezoelectric nanobeam with the consideration of surface effects

Abstract

This work investigates the electromechanical response of a curved piezoelectric nanobeam with the consideration of surface effects through the surface-layer-based model and the generalized Young–Laplace equations. For nanoscale piezoelectric structures, the surface effects also include surface piezoelectricity in addition to the residual surface stress and surface elasticity for elastic nanomaterials. A Euler–Bernoulli curved beam theory is used to get the explicit solutions for the electroelastic fields of a curved cantilever beam when subjected to mechanical and electrical loads. In order to apply the appropriate boundary conditions on the beam, effective axial force, shear force and moment are derived. The results indicate that the surface effects play a significant role in the electroelastic fields and the piezoelectric response of the curved piezoelectric nanobeam. It is also found that the coupling of the residual surface stress, the surface elasticity and the surface piezoelectricity may be dramatic despite that the influence of the individual one is small under some circumstances. This study is expected to be useful for design and applications of curved beam based piezoelectric nanodevices, such as the curved nanowires/nanobelts or nanorings as nanoswitches or nanoactuators for displacement control purpose.