Exact solutions for the bending of Timoshenko beams using Eringen’s two-phase nonlocal model

Abstract

Eringen’s nonlocal differential model has been widely used in the literature to predict the size effect in nanostructures. However, this model often gives rise to paradoxes, such as the cantilever beam under end-point loading. Recent studies of the nonlocal integral models based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory overcome the aforementioned inconsistency. In this paper, we carry out an analytical study of the bending problem based on Eringen’s two-phase nonlocal model and Timoshenko beam theory, which accounts for a better representation of the bending behavior of short, stubby nanobeams where the nonlocal effect and transverse shear deformation are significant. The governing equations are established by the principal of virtual work, which turns out to be a system of integro-differential equations. With the help of a reduction method, the complicated system is reduced to a system of differential equations with mixed boundary conditions. After some detailed calculations, exact analytical solutions are obtained explicitly for four types of boundary conditions. Asymptotic analysis of the exact solutions reveals clearly that the nonlocal parameter has the effect of increasing the deflections. In addition, as compared with nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam, the shear effect is evident, and an additional scale effect is captured, indicating the importance of applying higher-order beam theories in the analysis of nanostructures.