Influence Of Small-scale Effects Research Articles

Parametric vibrations of graphene sheets based on the double mode model and the nonlocal elasticity theory

Parametric vibrations of the single-layered graphene sheet (SLGS) are studied in the presented work. The equations of motion govern geometrically nonlinear oscillations. The appearance of small effects is analysed due to the application of the nonlocal elasticity theory. The approach is developed for rectangular simply supported small-scale plate and it employs the Bubnov–Galerkin method with a double mode model, which reduces the problem to investigation of the system of the second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The dynamic behaviour of the micro/nanoplate with varying excitation parameter is analysed to determine the chaotic regimes. As well the influence of small-scale effects to change the nature of vibrations is studied. The bifurcation diagrams, phase plots, Poincaré sections and the largest Lyapunov exponent are constructed and analysed. It is established that the use of nonlocal equations in the dynamic analysis of graphene sheets leads to a significant alteration in the character of oscillations, including the appearance of chaotic attractors.

Application of nonlocal continuum theory to the primary resonance analysis of an axially loaded nano beam under time delay control

The paper is concerned with the nonlinear primary resonance of nano beams with axial load under the velocity time delay control. In order to have a deep insight into the system, the amplitude frequency response curve of the system is firstly obtained using the multiple scales method. The effects of the control gains and time delays on the system stability are then investigated. The analyses illustrated that both delay feedback gain coefficient and velocity time delay control can mitigate the system vibrations properties (e.g. hardening nonlinearity, resonance amplitude and the corresponding width) to an excellent level. The nonlinear primary resonance of nano beam is also discussed with the influences of small scale effect, axial initial load, wave number, Winkler foundation modulus and the ratio of the length to the diameter. This paper establishes the relationship between the time delay controller and vibration properties of a nano beam system which provides the guidance for applying time delayed active control for different types of nano devices in engineering practices.

A nonlocal continuum model for the piezopotential of two-dimensional semiconductors

Owing to the intrinsic nanoscale dimension of two-dimensional (2D) piezoelectric semiconductors, the small-scale effects on their piezopotential properties are inevitable in their piezotronic applications. In this work, based on the nonlocal constitutive relations and the phenomenological theory of piezoelectric semiconductors, the small-scale effects are incorporated into the continuum modelling of the piezopotential for 2D semiconductors. After a linearized analysis is performed to the newly proposed nonlocal continuum model, the analytical expression of the piezopotential for 2D semiconductors is achieved, which is found to agree well with the density functional theory (DFT) results by choosing an appropriate characteristic nonlocal length. It is shown in our nonlocal continuum model that the small-scale effects can significantly enhance the piezopotential of 2D semiconductors, which tends to be more aggressive in 2D semiconductors with a smaller length or a larger initial carrier concentration. In addition, our DFT simulations also reveal that the influence of small-scale effects on the piezopotential properties of 2D semiconductors is attributed to the existence of nonlocal polarization, which originates from the end effects due to the finite length of their structures.

Mechanical deformations of carbon nanorings: a study by molecular dynamics and nonlocal continuum mechanics

Understanding of the elastic deformation behaviours of recently synthesised carbon nanorings (CNRs) is crucial in guiding their future applications, because the strain engineering provides an efficient means to modify their physical and chemical properties. In this paper, by using molecular dynamics simulations and nonlocal continuum mechanics models, we study the elastic deformations of CNRs with three different molecular structures, i.e., cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs), [4]cyclochrysenylenes and cyclacenes. Our results show that, compared to other two types of CNRs, CPPs have the smallest mechanical stiffness, which is attributed to the influence of numerous weak connecting carbon–carbon bonds existing between their component benzene rings. In addition to the molecular structure, the elastic deformation behaviours of CNRs are also found to strongly depend on the size. Specifically, the compressive stiffness of CNRs is found to increase as their size (radius) decreases. Meanwhile, the size reduction of CNRs can trigger the anisotropy of their compressive stiffness and can also aggravate the influence of small-scale effects on their elastic deformation behaviours, which can significantly reduce the compressive stiffness.

A nonlocal continuum model for the buckling of carbon honeycombs

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory, in this paper we comprehensively study the small-scale effects on the buckling behaviours of carbon honeycombs (CHCs). The MD simulation results show that the small-scale effects stemming from the long-range van der Waals interaction between carbon atoms can significantly affect the buckling behaviours of CHCs. To incorporate the small-scale effects into the theoretical analysis of the buckling of CHCs, we develop a nonlocal continuum mechanics (CM) model by employing Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory. Our nonlocal CM model is found to fit MD simulations well by setting the nonlocal parameter in the nonlocal CM model as 0.67. It is shown in our MD-based nonlocal CM model that when the cell length of CHCs is smaller than 7.93 A the influence of small-scale effects on the bucking of CHCs becomes unnegligible and the small-scale effects can greatly reduce the critical buckling stress of CHCs. This reduction in critical buckling stress induced by the small-scale effects becomes more significant as the length of the cell wall decreases. Moreover, CHCs are found to display two different buckling modes when they are under different states of loading. The critical condition for the transition between these two buckling modes of CHCs can be greatly affected by the small-scale effects when the vertical cell wall and the inclined cell wall of CHCs have different lengths.

Size dependent bending analysis of micro/nano sandwich structures based on a nonlocal high order theory

In this paper, a new model based on nonlocal high order theory is proposed to study the size effect on the bending of nano-sandwich beams with a compliance core. In this model, in contrast to most of the available sandwich theories, no prior assumptions are made with respect to the displacement field in the core. Herein the displacement and the stress fields of the core are obtained through an elasticity solution. Equations of motion and boundary conditions for nano-sandwich beam are derived by using Hamilton's principle and an analytical solution is presented for simply supported nano-sandwich beam. The results are validated with previous studies in the literature. These results can be utilized in the study of nano-sensors and nano-actuators. The effect of nonlocal parameter, Young's modulus of the core and aspect ratio on the deflection of the nano-sandwich beam is investigated. It is concluded that by including the small-scale effects, the deflection of the skins is increased and by increasing the nonlocal parameter, the influence of small-scale effects on the deflections is increased.

Nonuniform biaxial buckling of orthotropic nanoplates embedded in an elastic medium based on nonlocal Mindlin plate theory

In this article, non-uniform biaxial buckling analysis of orthotropic single-layered graphene sheet embedded in a Pasternak elastic medium is investigated using the nonlocal Mindlin plate theory. All edges of the graphene sheet are subjected to linearly varying normal stresses. The nanoplate equilibrium equations are derived in terms of generalized displacements based on first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) of orthotropic nanoplates using the nonlocal differential constitutive relations of Eringen. Differential quadrature method (DQM) has been used to solve the governing equations for various boundary conditions. The accuracy of the present results is validated by comparing the solutions with those reported by the available literatures. Finally, influences of small scale effect, aspect ratio, polymer matrix properties, type of planar loading, mode numbers and boundary conditions are discussed in details.

Nonlinear primary resonance of nano beam with axial initial load by nonlocal continuum theory

Based on the nonlocal continuum theory, the nonlinear primary resonance of nano beam with the axial initial load is investigated. The amplitude–frequency response for the primary resonance is derived with the multiple scale method and the stability is analyzed. The nonlinear primary resonance of nano beam is discussed with the influences of small scale effect, axial initial load, mode number, Winkler foundation modulus and the ratio of the length to the diameter. From the results, the typical hardening nonlinearity can be observed. Moreover, some significant and interesting nonlinear phenomena can be found for the primary resonance of nano beam. This work is expected to be useful for the design and analysis for the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of structures at nano scales.

Variational Principles for Nonlocal Continuum Model of Orthotropic Graphene Sheets Embedded in An Elastic Medium

Equations governing the vibrations and buckling of multilayered orthotropic graphene sheets can be expressed as a system of n partial differential equations where n refers to the number of sheets. This description is based on the continuum model of the graphene sheets which can also take the small scale effects into account by employing a nonlocal theory. In the present article a variational principle is derived for the nonlocal elastic theory of rectangular graphene sheets embedded in an elastic medium and undergoing transverse vibrations. Moreover the graphene sheets are subject to biaxial compression. Rayleigh quotients are obtained for the frequencies of freely vibrating graphene sheets and for the buckling load. The influence of small scale effects on the frequencies and the buckling load can be observed qualiatively from the expressions of the Rayleigh quotients. Elastic medium is modeled as a combination of Winkler and Pasternak foundations acting on the top and bottom layers of the mutilayered nano-structure. Natural boundary conditions of the problem are derived using the variational principle formulated in the study. It is observed that free boundaries lead to coupled boundary conditions due to nonlocal theory used in the continuum formulation while the local (classical) elasticity theory leads to uncoupled boundary conditions. The mathematical methods used in the study involve calculus of variations and the semi-inverse method for deriving the variational integrals.

Axial buckling analysis of single-walled carbon nanotubes in thermal environments via the Rayleigh–Ritz technique

Axial buckling characteristics of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) including thermal environment effect are studied in this paper. Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity equations are incorporated into the classical Donnell shell theory to establish a nonlocal elastic shell model which takes small-scale effects into account. The Rayleigh–Ritz technique is implemented in conjunction with the set of beam functions as modal displacement functions to consider the four commonly used boundary conditions namely as simply supported–simply supported, clamped–clamped, clamped–simply supported, and clamped-free in the buckling analysis. Selected numerical results are presented to demonstrate the influences of small scale effect, aspect ratio, thermal environment effects and boundary conditions in detail. It is found that the value of aspect ratio has different effects on the critical axial buckling loads of SWCNTs in low and high temperature environments. Also, it is observed that the difference between the thermal axial buckling responses of SWCNTs relevant to various boundary conditions is more prominent for higher values of nonlocal elasticity constant.

Modelling the influence of small-scale effects upon the larger scale: an oceanographic challenge

The problem of resolving or parameterising small-scale processes in oceanographic models and the extent to which small-scale effects influence the large scale are briefly discussed and illustrated for a number of cases. For tides and surges in near-shore regions, the advantages of using a graded mesh to resolve coastal and estuarine small-scale features are demonstrated in terms of a west coast of Britain unstructured mesh model. The effect of mesh resolution upon the accuracy of the overall solution is illustrated in terms of a finite element model of the Irish Sea and Mersey estuary. For baroclinic motion at high Froude number, the effect of resolving small-scale topography within a non-hydrostatic model is illustrated in terms of tidally induced mixing at a single sill, or two closely spaced sills. The question of how to parameterise small-scale non-linear interaction processes that lead to significant mixing, in a form suitable for coarser grid hydrostatic models, is briefly considered. In addition, the importance of topographically induced mixing that occurs in the oceanic lateral boundary layer, namely, the shelf edge upon the large-scale ocean circulation is discussed together with the implications for coarse grid oceanic climate models. The use of unstructured grids in these models to enhance resolution in shelf-edge regions in a similar manner to that used in storm surge models to enhance near coastal resolution is suggested as a suitable “way forward” in large-scale ocean circulation modelling.