On the Exact Solution of Nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli Beam Equations via a Direct Approach for Volterra-Fredholm Integro-Differential Equations

Abstract

First, we develop a direct operator method for solving boundary value problems for a class of nth order linear Volterra–Fredholm integro-differential equations of convolution type. The proposed technique is based on the assumption that the Volterra integro-differential operator is bijective and its inverse is known in closed form. Existence and uniqueness criteria are established and the exact solution is derived. We then apply this method to construct the closed form solution of the fourth order equilibrium equations for the bending of Euler–Bernoulli beams in the context of Eringen’s nonlocal theory of elasticity (two phase integral model) under a transverse distributed load and simply supported boundary conditions. An easy to use algorithm for obtaining the exact solution in a symbolic algebra system is also given.