Quantum effects on thermal vibration of single-walled carbon nanotubes conveying fluid

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the microfluid induced vibration of a nanotube in thermal environment. Attention is focused on a special case that the law of energy equipartition is unreliable unless the quantum effect is taken into account. A nonlocal Euler–Bernoulli beam model is used to model the transverse vibration of a single-walled nanotube (SWCNT). Results reveal that the root of mean squared (RMS) amplitude of thermal vibration of the fluid-conveying SWCNT predicted from the quantum theory is lower than that predicted from the law of energy equipartition. The quantum effect on the thermal vibration of the fluid-conveying SWCNT is more significant for the cases of higher-order modes, lower flow velocity, lower temperature, and lower fluid density.