Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

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Applied Mathematical Modelling

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apm

Linear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic

Timoshenko nanobeams considering surface energy effects
M. Faraji Oskouie, R. Ansari∗
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, P.O. Box 3756, Rasht, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, the linear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic Timoshenko
Received 19 March 2016 nanobeams are studied based on the Gurtin–Murdoch surface stress theory. Firstly, the
Revised 22 October 2016
constitutive equations of fractional viscoelasticity theory are considered, and based on the
Accepted 30 November 2016
Gurtin–Murdoch model, stress components on the surface of the nanobeam are incorpo-
Available online 5 December 2016
rated into the axial stress tensor. Afterward, using Hamilton’s principle, equations govern-
Keywords: ing the two-dimensional vibrations of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams are derived. Fi-
Nanobeam nally, two solution procedures are utilized to describe the time responses of nanobeams.
Fractional viscoelasticity theory In the first method, which is fully numerical, the generalized differential quadrature and
Surface stress effect finite difference methods are used to discretize the linear part of the governing equations
Timoshenko beam theory in spatial and time domains. In the second method, which is semi-analytical, the Galerkin
Nonlinear free vibration approach is first used to discretize nonlinear partial differential governing equations in the
spatial domain, and the obtained set of fractional-order ordinary differential equations are
then solved by the predictor–corrector method. The accuracy of the results for the lin-
ear and nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams with different boundary
conditions is shown. Also, by comparing obtained results for different values of some pa-
rameters such as viscoelasticity coefficient, order of fractional derivative and parameters
of surface stress model, their effects on the frequency and damping of vibrations of the
fractional viscoelastic nanobeams are investigated.
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Most of the nano- and micro-electromechanical systems (NEMS and MEMS) consist of beam-type structures as their basic
elements whose mechanical behaviors should be accurately identified. Experimental tests [1–3] and atomistic simulations
[4–6] have shown the size-dependent mechanical behavior and material properties of structures at very small scales. Hence,
the classical continuum theory, which is scale-free, cannot predict the mechanical behavior of nano- and micro-structures
accurately. Various non-classical continuum theories such as the nonlocal [7], couple stress [8,9] and strain gradient [10] the-
ories have been developed to take size effects into account. In recent years, such theories have been utilized to study the
mechanical behaviors of nano-scale beams, plates and shells [11–17].
Recently, researchers have combined viscoelasticity with size-dependent theories to study the mechanics of viscoelas-
tic structures [18–24]. Lei et al. [22] derived the equations of the free vibration of a damped nonlocal viscoelastic Euler–
Bernoulli beam and investigated the effects of the nonlocal parameter, viscoelastic constants and the external damping

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: r_ansari@guilan.ac.ir (R. Ansari).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2016.11.036
0307-904X/© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
338 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

parameter on its complex natural frequencies. They also studied the same problem for nonlocal viscoelastic Timoshenko
beams [23]. Ghavanloo and Fazelzadeh [24] formulated equations for the transverse vibration of viscoelastic carbon nan-
otubes (CNTs) conveying fluid and embedded in the viscous fluid and considered the effects of viscoelastic property, external
viscous fluid, temperature change and small-scale parameter on their frequency and structural stability.
Fractional calculus is a branch of mathematics that has been widely used in different fields such as physics and mechan-
ics [25–29]. An application of fractional calculus in mechanical engineering is generalizing the viscoelastic theory with the
aim of getting the gap between theoretical and experimental results narrower [30–37]. A theoretical analysis was presented
by Sumelka et al. [38] to investigate the free axial vibration of nanorods modeled by the nonlocal elasticity theory and frac-
tional calculus. Karličić et al. [39] studied the free transverse vibration of nonlocal viscoelastic orthotropic multi-nanoplate
system embedded in a viscoelastic medium using the nonlocal elasticity theory and Kelvin–Voigt viscoelasticity model. Re-
cently, Ansari et al. [40] modeled fractional viscoelastic Timoshenko nanobeams by combining fractional viscoelasticity the-
ory with the nonlocal theory, and studied the linear free vibrations of system. In that paper, the governing equations were
solved numerically, and the effects of different parameters such as fractional order, viscoelastic parameter and nonlocal pa-
rameter on the time response of the nonlocal fractional viscoealstic nanobeams were studied. Another research has been
done on the size-dependent nonlinear free vibrations of nonlocal fractional viscoelastic Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams [41].
Atoms at a free surface of a solid body experience a different local environment as compared to atoms in the bulk of the
body. As a result, the energy associated with surface atoms will be different from that of the bulk atoms. In the classical
continuum mechanics, the effect of surface energy is neglected as it is small compared to the bulk energy. However, for
nanoscaled structures, due to large surface-to-volume ratio, the surface energy contributes significantly to the total energy,
and the surface effects play a significant role in the mechanical behavior of structure. Gurtin and Murdoch [42,43] presented
a mathematical framework based on the continuum mechanics with the ability of incorporating the surface stress effects
into the mechanical analysis of nanostructures. The Gurtin–Murdoch theory has been applied in many studies during the
past several years (e.g. [44–47]).
To the best of authors’ knowledge, surface effects on the nonlinear vibrations of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams have
not been investigated up to now. Hence, in the present paper, the linear and nonlinear free vibrations of fractional vis-
coelastic nanobeams are studied with considering the surface stress influence. Nanobeams are modeled according to the
Timoshenko beam theory, and the Gurtin–Murdoch theory is employed to take the surface stress effect into account. Geo-
metrical nonlinearity in the nonlinear analysis is considered based on the von-Kármán hypothesis. The governing equations
and boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton’s principle. The linear free vibration problem is solved using the gener-
alized differential quadrature (GDQ) and finite difference (FD) methods. Also, the nonlinear free vibration problem is solved
by the Galerkin and predictor–corrector methods. Selected numerical results are presented in order to investigate the effects
of different parameters such as surface constants, viscoelasticity coefficient and order of fractional derivative on the linear
and nonlinear time responses of nanobeams with various types of end conditions.

2. Derivation of governing equations and boundary conditions

Based on the Timoshenko beam model, the displacement field at any point can be written as:

ux (x, z, t ) = U (x, t ) − zψ (x, t ), uy = 0, uz (x, z, t ) = W (x, t ), (1)

where U(x, t) and W(x, t) are the displacement components of the mid-plane at time t. The nonlinear von-Kármán strain-
displacement relations for a nanobeam can be approximated as:
 2  
∂U ∂ψ 1 ∂ W 1 ∂W
εxx = −z + , εxz = −ψ . (2)
∂x ∂x 2 ∂x 2 ∂x

Moreover, according to the linear fractional viscoelasticity, the stress components can be represented as [48]:
   2   
∂α ∂U ∂ψ 1 ∂ W ∂W
σxx = (λ + 2μ) 1 + ḡ α −z + , σxz = μks −ψ , (3)
∂t ∂x ∂x 2 ∂x ∂x
α
where λ = Eν /(1 − ν 2 ) and μ = E/(2(1 + ν )). Moreover, E, ν , ḡ, α , ks and ∂∂t α represent Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, vis-
coelasticity coefficient, fractional derivative order, shear correction factor and Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative of order
α with respect to time, respectively.
Duo to in-plane loads on the surfaces of the nanobeam, surface stresses will be created which can be calculated using
the following constitutive equations [42,43]:

σαβ
s
= τs δαβ + (τs + λs )εγ γ δαβ + 2(μs − τs )εαβ + τs uα ,β , (α , β = x, y ), (4)

in which λs and μs are the surface Lamé constants, and τ s is the residual surface stress under unstrained conditions. Also,
δ marks the Kronecker delta. Based on Eqs. (3) and (4), the surface stress component can be achieved in terms of the
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 339

displacement components as:

   2 
∂α ∂U ∂ψ 1 ∂ W ∂W
σ = (λs + 2μs ) 1 + ḡ α
s
−z + + τs , σxz
s
= τs . (5)
xx
∂t ∂x ∂x 2 ∂x ∂x
In the classical beam theories, because the stress component σ zz is small in comparison with σ xx and σ xz , it is neglected. But
this assumption does not satisfy the surface conditions of the Gurtin–Murdoch model. To solve this problem, it is assumed
that σ zz varies linearly through the beam thickness and satisfies the balance conditions on the surfaces [49]. According to
this consideration, σ zz can be obtained as:
       
∂σxzs+ s+ ∂ 2 W ∂σxzs− s− ∂ 2 W ∂σxzs+ s+ ∂ 2 W ∂σxzs− s− ∂ 2 W
∂x − ρ ∂t2 + ∂x − ρ ∂t2 ∂x − ρ ∂t2 − ∂x − ρ ∂t2
σzz = + z. (6)
2 h
Using Eq. (5), σ zz can be derived as follows:
 
2z ∂ 2W ∂ 2W
σzz = τ s 2 − ρs 2 . (7)
h ∂x ∂t
Now, by including σ zz based on Eq. (7) in the components of stress for the bulk of the nanobeam, one will have:
   2   2 
∂α ∂U ∂ψ 1 ∂ W 2ν z ∂ W ∂ 2W
σxx = (λ + 2μ) 1 + ḡ α −z + + τ s 2 − ρs 2
∂t ∂x ∂x 2 ∂x (1 − ν )h ∂x ∂t
 
∂W
σxz = μks −ψ . (8)
∂x
The strain energy of the viscoelastic nanobeam including the surface stress effect can be calculated as [50]:
1
 
1
  
s = σi j εi j dAdx + σisj εi j ds+ + σisj εi j ds−
2 x A 2
s+ s−
  2  
1 ∂U 1 ∂W ∂ψ ∂W ∂W
= Nxx + N̄xx + − Mxx + M̄xx +Q − ψ + Q̄ dx, (9)
2 x ∂x 2 ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
in which:
  2
∂α ∂U 1 ∂W
Nxx = (λ + 2μ )bh 1 + ḡ +
∂tα ∂x 2 ∂x
   2  2
∂α ∂U 1 ∂W ∂W
N̄xx = 2(b + h )(λs + 2μs ) 1 + ḡ α ++ − (b + h )τs + 2(b + h )τs ,
∂t ∂x 2 ∂x ∂x
 
(λ + 2μ)bh3 ∂ α ∂ψ ν bh2 τs ∂ 2W ν bh2 ρs ∂ 2W
Mxx =− 1 + ḡ α + −
12 ∂t ∂ x 6 (1 − ν ) ∂ x 2 6 (1 − ν ) ∂ t 2
  
∂α bh2 h3 ∂ψ
M̄xx = −(λs + 2μs ) 1 + ḡ α + ,
∂t 2 6 ∂x
  
∂α ∂W ∂W
Q = bhμks 1 + ḡ α − ψ , Q̄ = 2(b + h )τs . (10)
∂t ∂x ∂x
The geometrical parameters such as b and h are introduced in Fig. 1. It should be noted that in Eq. (9), the integration
is performed on the volume of structure. Since σ ij and ε ij are constant in y and z directions and vary in x direction, the
integration on volume is separated into integration on A(y, z axis) and x axis. Moreover, the kinetic energy of nanobeam
can be expressed as [50]:
  2  2   2
1 ∂U ∂W ρ bh3 bh2 h3 ∂ψ
T = {[ρ bh + 2(b + h)ρs ] + + + ρs + dx, (11)
2 x ∂t ∂t 12 2 6 ∂t
in which, ρ is density of the nanobeam.
Employing Hamilton’s principle and neglecting the horizontal inertia force [51,52], governing equations and boundary
conditions can be derived as:
∂ Q + Q̄   2
EA L ∂ W ∂ 2W ∂ 2W
+ dx = ρA , (12a)
∂x 2L 0 ∂x ∂x 2 ∂t2
340 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

Fig. 1. Schematic view of a fractional viscoelastic nanobeam with the kinematic parameters and surface layers.

∂ M + M̄ ∂ 2ψ
− Q − Q̄ = ρ I 2 , (12b)
∂x ∂t
W = 0,  = 0 for simply - supported boundary condition, (12c)

W = 0, Mxx + M̄xx = 0 for clamped boundary condition, (12d)

where, L and A are the length and cross section area of the nanobeam.
Substituting Eq. (10) into (12a) and (12b) gives:
        2
∂α ∂ 2W ∂ α ∂ψ EA L ∂ W ∂ 2W ∂ 2W
A13 1 + ḡ + 2A33 − A 1 + ḡ + dx = I1 , (13a)
∂tα ∂x 2 13
∂t α ∂x 2L 0 ∂x ∂x 2 ∂t2
    
∂α ∂W ∂ α ∂ 2ψ ∂ 3W ∂ 2ψ ∂ 3W
A13 1 + ḡ α − ψ + D11 1 + ḡ α − E11 = I3 +R 2 , (13b)
∂t ∂x ∂t ∂x 2 ∂x 3 ∂t 2 ∂t ∂x
where
ν bh2 ρs
A33 = 2(b + h )τs , A13 = bhμks , R=−
6 (1 − ν )
 2 
bh h3 ν bh2 τs
D11 = (λ + 2μ )I + (λs + 2μs ) + , E11 = ,
2 6 6 (1 − ν )
 2 
bh h3
I¯1 = ρ bh + 2(b + h )ρs , I¯3 = ρ I + ρs + . (14)
2 6

By introducing the following dimensionless parameters:


W x ρA {t, ḡ} {A13 , A33 }L2 I1 I3
w= , ζ = , T =L 2
, {τ , g} = , {a13 , a33 } = , I1 = , I3 = ,
L L EI T EI ρA ρ AL2
D11 E11 R AL2
d11 = , e11 = , r= , δ= . (15)
EI EI ρ AL2 I
The normalized governing equations of motion of the fractional viscoelastic nanobeam can be written as:
         1  2
∂α ∂ 2w ∂ α ∂ψ δ ∂α ∂w ∂ 2w ∂ 2w
a13 1 + g + 2a33 − a 1 + g + 1 + g dζ = I1 , (16a)
∂τ α ∂ζ 2 13
∂τ α ∂ζ 2 ∂τ α
0 ∂ζ ∂ζ 2 ∂τ 2
    
∂α ∂w ∂ α ∂ 2ψ ∂ 3w ∂ 2ψ ∂ 3w
a13 1 + g − ψ + d11 1 + g α − e11 = I3 +r 2 . (16b)
∂τ α ∂ζ ∂τ ∂ζ 2 ∂ζ 3 ∂τ 2 ∂ τ ∂ζ

3. Solution methodology

Two different solution procedures are used to solve the linear and nonlinear free vibration problems of the fractional
viscoelastic nanobeam.
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 341

Fig. 2. Effect of initial value on the time response of the simply-supported nanobeam τ s = 0.605, L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, λs + 2μs = −10, g = 0.03, b = 2h,
α = 0.5.

3.1. Linear analysis

For linear analysis of the system, the governing equations are discretized in spatial and time domain using differential
operators of GDQ and FD methods.

3.1.1. GDQ scheme

In the GDQ method, the rth-order derivative of function f(x) including N grid points in the domain is approximated as:

∂ r f (x )  
N
W( ) f xj ,
r
= (17)
∂ xr x=x j=1 i j
i

in which xj is the coordinates of a discrete grid point in the variable domain; and Wi(jr ) is the corresponding weighting
coefficients approximated through the following equation [53]:

Wi(j )
r

⎧
⎪ Ix , where Ix is a N × N identity matrix, r = 0
⎪
⎪ 
⎨ (xi −x j()Pi )(x j ) , where P (xi ) = Nj=1; j=i xi − x j , i = j and i, j = 1, . . . , N and r = 1
P x

=  r−1 
W (j ) (18)
⎪ r Wi(j ) Wii( ) − xii−x
1 r−1
⎪ , i = j and i, j = 1, . . . , N and r = 2, 3, . . . N − 1
⎪
⎩ N
j
(r )
− j=1; j=i Wi j , i = j and i, j = 1, . . . , N and r = 1, 2, 3, . . . N − 1.

The function values f(xj ) are given in a column vector as follows:

 T
F = f ( x1 ) f ( x2 ) ··· f ( xN ) . (19)

Eq. (17) can be rewritten as:

dr
F = Dx( ) F,
r
(20)
d xr
where Dx(r ) = [Wi(jr ) ] is the operational matrix of differentiation, i, j = 1, …, N and r = 0, 1, 2, …, N − 1.
342 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

Fig. 3. Linear time responses of the simply-supported nanobeam predicted by finite difference and predictor–corrector methods for different values of
fractional orders τ s = 0.605, L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, λs + 2μs = −10, g = 0.03, b = 2h.

3.1.2. FD scheme
The Riemann–Liouville fractional-order derivative of a function at time t can be calculated according to the values of the
function at times before t as follows [54,55]:

1 t
w (t − τ ) w (0 )
Dtα (w ) = I1−α (w˙ ) = dτ + , 0 < α < 1, (21)
(1 − α ) 0 τ α (1 − α )t α

  
1 tk+1
w (tk+1 − τ ) τ −α  k
dτ = bα w tk+1− j − w tk− j
(1 − α ) 0 τ α (2 − α ) j=0 j

bαj = ( j + 1 )1−α − j1−α , j = 0, 1, 2, .., n. (22)

In this equation, 0 < α < 1 is the order of fractional derivative; τ is time step and n + 1 is number of grid points.

3.1.3. Discretization on the space and time domains

To discretize the space domain, the grid points are generated using the shifted Chebyshev–Gauss–Lobatto equations as:
 
1 i−1
ζi = 1 − cos π , i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n. (23)
2 n−1
Also, the grid points on the time domain are located with invariant distances like:
tf
τj = j , j = 0, 2, 3, . . . , m. (24)
m+1
Now, introducing matrices W and ψ as:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
w10 w12 ··· w 1n θ10 θ12 ··· θ1 n
⎢ .. .. ⎥ ⎢ .. .. ⎥
⎢ w20 . . w 2n ⎥ ⎢θ . . θ2 n ⎥
W= ⎢ . .. ⎥
, ψ = ⎢ 20 .. ⎥
,
⎣ . ..
.
..
.
⎦ ⎣ .. ..
.
..
.
⎦
. . . .
wm0 wm2 ··· wmn θm 0 θm 2 ··· θmn
i = 1 . . . m, j = 0 . . . n, (25)
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 343

Fig. 4. Effect of fractional order on the linear time response of the nanobeam with (a) C–C, (b) C–SS, (c) SS–SS boundary conditions τ s = 0.605, L = 30 nm,
h = 4 nm, λs + 2μs = −10, g = 0.03, b = 2h.

in which wij = w(xi , tj ) and using GDQ and FD methods, one can have:

 
1
a13 D2ζ W ITτ + gDατ + 2a33 D2ζ WITτ − a13 D1ζ ψ ITτ + gDατ
T T
+g
(1 − α )τ α
T
 −a13 D1ζ ψ0 + a13 D2ζ W0 = I1 Iζ WDτ 2T
 
1
a13 D1ζ W − Iζ ψ ITτ + gDατ ψ ITτ + gDατ T − e11 D3ζ WITτ + g
T
+ d11 D2ζ
(1 − α )τ α
T
 −a13 Iζ ψ0 + a13 D1ζ W0 + d11 D2ζ ψ0 = I3 Iζ ψ Dτ 2T + rD1ζ WDτ 2T . (26)

In Eq. (26), ψ 0 and W0 are the initial values of W and ψ ; τ is the vector of dimensionless time; the terms containing
1
(1−α )τ α come from the second part of right hand side of Eq. (21);  symbolizes the Kronecker product; I is the unit matrix
and Dα t is the fractional differential operator of order α .
To solve Eq. (26), both initial displacement and initial velocity must be known. Herein, the mode shape related to the
linear vibration of elastic nanobeam is used as the initial displacement, and the initial velocity is considered to be zero.
Now, by discretizing the boundary conditions in a similar way and then applying them to the governing equations, one can
reach an algebraic set of equations from which the unknown matrices W and ψ can be determined.

3.2. Nonlinear analysis

In the second method which is used to study the nonlinear response of the system, the Galerkin scheme is firstly applied
to convert the fractional integro-partial differential governing equation into a fractional ordinary differential equation. Then,
the obtained set of equations is arranged in an effective state-space form. Finally, the predictor–corrector method is used to
solve the set of nonlinear fractional time-dependent equations and describe the nonlinear time response of the fractional
viscoelastic nanobeam with simply-supported (SS) ends.
344 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

Fig. 5. Effect of fractional order on the nonlinear time response of the nanobeam with SS–SS boundary conditions τ s = 0.605, L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm,
λs + 2μs = −10, g = 0.03, b = 2h.

3.2.1. Galerkin method

The solution of (Eqs. 16a) and (16b) can be expressed as follows:
∞

W (ζ , T ) = ϕn (T )Pn (ζ ), (27a)
n=1
∞
ψ (ζ , T ) = n (T )n (ζ ), (27b)
n=1

in which ϕ n (T) and n (T) indicate the unknown time-dependent coefficients. Also Pn (ζ ) = sin(nπ ζ ) and  n (ζ ) = cos(nπ ζ )
are the modal functions of linear vibrations related to SS nanobeams.
Substitution of Eqs. (27a) and (27b) into (16a) and (16b) and applying the Galerkin procedure for the resulting equation
give the following fractional ordinary differential equations:
" # " # " #
N 
 1 N 
 1 N 
 1
 (α )  (α )
a13 Pi Pj dζ ϕ j + gϕ j + 2a33 Pi Pj dζ ϕj − a13 P   dζ
i j  j + g j
0 0 0
j=1 j=1 j=1
" #
N  
δ N 
N  1

1
(α )
− Pi Pj dζ Pk Pl dζ ϕ j ϕk ϕl + gϕ j (ϕk ϕl )
2 0 0
j=1 k=1 l=1
" #
N 
 1
= I1 Pi P dζ ϕ̈ j , (28a)
0
j=1

" # " # " #

N 
 1 N 
 1 N 
 1
(α ) (α )
a13 i Pj dζ ϕ j + gϕ j − a13 i  j dζ  j + d11 i  j dζ  j + g j
0 0 0
j=1 j=1 j=1
" # " # " #
N 
 1 N 
 1 N 
 1
+ e11 i P  dζ
j ϕj = I3 i  j − μ 2
i  j dζ 
¨ j +r i P  dζ
j ϕ̈ j . (28b)
0 0 0
j=1 j=1 j=1
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 345

Fig. 6. Effect of surface properties of λs + 2μs on the linear time response of the nanobeam with (a) C–C, (b) C–SS, (c) SS–SS boundary conditions τ s = 0.605,
L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, g = 0.03, b = 2h, α = 0.5.

Considering the following relations:

α
Xi1 = ϕi , Xi2 = ϕ˙ i , Xi3 = ϕi( ) , Xim = (ϕi ϕm−3 )(α ) , Xi5 = θ , Xi6 = θ˙ , Xi7 = θ (α ) . (29)

Eqs. (27a) and (27b) can be expressed in an effective state-space form as follows:

∂ X j1
= X j2
∂t $   %
N  X j1 0 &N 1  '
j=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ X j1 + g X j3 + (1−α )t α j=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ X j1
1
∂ X j2 a13 + 2a33
= N
∂t I1 j=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ
1

&    '
− 2δ  1  
l=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ ∫0 Pk Pl d ζ X j1 Xk1 Xl1 + gX j1 Xkm + (1−α )t α
N N N 1 Xk1 0 Xm1 0
j=1 k=1
+ N
j=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ
1
I1
" #
N 
 1
− a13 Pi  j dζ X j5 + gX j7
0
j=1
1 −α 1 −α
∂ Xi3 ∂ Xim ∂ Xi5
= Xi2 = Xi1 X(m−3)2 + X(m−3)1 Xi2 = Xi6 , (30)
∂ t 1 −α ∂ t 1 −α ∂t
$   %
&N 1 '
∫10 i Pj dζ X j1 + g X j3 + (1−j1α0 )t α
X
j=1 ∫0 i  j d ζ X j5
N
a13 − a13
∂ Xi6 j=1
= &N 1 '
∂t I3 
j=1 ∫0 i  j − μ i  j d ζ
2
&N 1 
' &N 1  '
d11 j=1 ∫0 i  j d ζ X j5 + gX j7 + e11 j=1 ∫0 Pi Pj d ζ X j1
+ &N 1 
'
j=1 ∫0 i  j − μ i  j d ζ
I3 2
346 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

Fig. 7. Effect of surface properties of λs + 2μs on the nonlinear time response of the nanobeam with simply supported boundary conditions τ s = 0.605,
L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, g = 0.03, b = 2h, α = 0.5.

$ %
∂X
r N
j=1 ∫10 Pi Pj dζ ∂ tj2
− &N '.
I3 j=1 ∫10 i  j − μ2 i  j dζ
∂ 1−a Xi7
= Xi6
∂ t 1−a
This equation will be solved to obtain the time response of the nonlinear free vibration of the fractional viscoelastic
nanobeam. The predictor–corrector method [56] is utilized to solve the mentioned set of nonlinear fractional ordinary equa-
tions in the time domain.

3.2.2. Predictor–corrector
Consider a fractional differential equation and corresponding initial conditions as:
(
Dα x(t ) = f (t , x(t )), 0 ≤ t < T
, (31)
= x0( ) , k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1
x (k ) ( 0 )
k

where n = α denotes the first integer which is not less than α and α > 0 but not necessarily α ∈ N. Also, x(k) is the ordinary
kth derivative of x(t).
Eq. (31) can be rewritten as an equivalent Volterra integral equation as:
n−1 (k ) k
  t
x0 t 1
x(t ) = + (t − τ )α−1 f (τ , x(t ))dτ . (32)
k! (α ) 0
k=0

The aforementioned integral form of fractional governing equation can be discretized in the time domain. To do this, the
time domain grid points are considered as:

T
t j = jh; h = , j = 0, 1, 2, . . . , N ∈ Z + , (33)
N
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 347

Fig. 8. Effect of viscoelasticity coefficient on the linear time response of the nanobeam with (a) C–C, (b) C–SS, (c) SS–SS boundary conditions τ s = 0.605,
L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, Es = −10, b = 2h, α = 0.5.

in which N denotes the number of total grid points. So, the discretized form of Eq. (32) can be expressed as:
α
 −1 (k ) k 
hα hα
n
x t
xh (tn+1 ) = 0
+ f tn+1 , xhp (tn+1 ) + a j,n+1 f t j , xh t j
k! (α + 2 ) (α + 2 )
k=0 j=0
"
nα +1 − (n − α )(n + 1 )α , j=0
a j,n+1 = (n − j + 2)α+1 + (n − j )α+1 − 2(n − j + 1)α+1 , 1 ≤ j ≤ n
1, j =n+1
α
 −1 (k ) k 
n
x t 1
xhp (tn+1 ) = 0
+ b j,n+1 f t j , xh t j
k! (α )
k=0 j=0

hα
b j,n+1 = (n − j + 1)α − (n − j )α , 1 ≤ j ≤ n. (34)
α
This procedure is the well-known Adams–Bashforth–Moulton predictor–corrector scheme [57–59] which provides an ef-
fective tool for studying the dynamics of fractional-order systems.

4. Results and discussion

The time responses of nanobeams including surface stress effect are investigated in this section, and the influences of
surface stress on the nonlinear resonant behaviors of fractional viscoelastic nanobeams corresponding to different system
parameters are studied. To this purpose, the following material properties of a nanobeam made of silicon is considered:
Kg N
E = 210 GPa, ρ = 2331 , ν = 0.24, λs = −4.488 ,
m3 m
N N
μs = −2.774 , τs = 0.605 , ρs = 3.17e − 7 Kg/m3 .
m m
In Fig. 2, the linear and nonlinear vibration time responses of the simply-supported nanobeam with various initial conditions
are plotted. It can be seen that the nonlinear time response of the nanobeam is converged to the linear one at small initial
348 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350

Fig. 9. Effect of viscoelasticity coefficient on the nonlinear time response of the nanobeam with simply supported boundary conditions τ s = 0.605,
L = 30 nm, h = 4 nm, Es = −10, b = 2h, α = 0.5.

amplitudes. According to Fig. 2, for system with initial dimensionless amplitude 0.02, linear and nonlinear frequencies are
very similar.
In Fig. 3, a comparison is made between the linear time responses of the nanobeam predicted by the FD method and the
ones predicted by the predictor–corrector method for different values of fractional orders. It is observed that there are good
agreements between the results of two approaches. Figs. 2 and 3 show that using the present solution procedures leads to
reliable results for the linear and nonlinear free vibrations of the viscoelastic nanobeams.
In Figs. 4 and 5, the effects of fractional order on the linear and nonlinear vibrations of nanobeams are studied. In
Fig. 4, for linear vibration investigation of the nanobeam, three types of boundary conditions are considered. From this
figure one can find that changing the fractional order does not affect the linear frequency of the nanobeam with various
boundary conditions, and increasing this parameter only increases the damping of the system. Fig. 5 shows the nonlinear
time response of the nanobeam with simply-supported ends. It is seen that increasing the fractional order of the system
reduces the frequency and causes less damping in the nanobeam. It is clear that reducing the frequency of the system is
because of the dependency of frequency on the vibration amplitude in the nonlinear analysis.
Figs. 6 and 7 show the effect of surface properties of λs + 2μs on the linear and nonlinear vibrations of nanobeams. In
the linear study, it is found that increasing λs + 2μs makes the frequency and damping of the system larger.
Finally, in Figs. 8 and 9 the effects of viscoelasticity parameter on the linear and nonlinear vibration of the nanobeam
are analyzed. By equating the viscoelasticity parameter to zero, the elastic model is recovered and no damping occurs in
the system as it can be observed in Fig. 8. Also, Fig. 8 reveals that increasing the viscoelasticity parameter leads to the
increase of damping in the system and has a very small effect on its linear frequency. But according to Fig. 9, increasing
the viscoelasticity parameter decreases the nonlinear frequency because of dependency of the nonlinear frequency on the
vibration amplitude.

5. Conclusion

In this paper, surface stress and fractional viscoelasticity theories were utilized to study the linear and nonlinear free vi-
brations of viscoelastic Timoshenko nanobeams. At first, nonlinear integro-differential governing equations were derived us-
ing Hamilton’s principle. In order to solve the nonlinear free vibration problem of simply-supported viscoelastic nanobeam,
the Galerkin and predictor–corrector schemes were used. The GDQ and FD methods were also employed in the linear free
 M.F. Oskouie, R. Ansari / Applied Mathematical Modelling 43 (2017) 337–350 349

vibration analysis of viscoelastic nanobeams under different boundary conditions. Comparing the results from the proposed
solution methods with those of the predictor–corrector method in the linear analysis, and also the convergence of nonlin-
ear results to the linear ones at small vibration amplitudes, showed that the proposed methods are reliable. The influences
of various parameters such as order of fractional derivative and viscoelasticity coefficient on the linear and nonlinear time
response of the viscoelastic Timoshenko nanobeam were studied. It was found that increasing fractional order, λs + 2μs and
viscoelasticity coefficient lead to the increase of damping in the fractional viscoelastic nanobeam. Also, increasing λs + 2μs ,
increases the linear and nonlinear frequencies. Afterward, the effect of viscoelasticity coefficient was studied. It was found
that viscoelasticity coefficient has different effects on the linear and nonlinear frequencies of the nanobeam. Increasing this
parameter causes larger linear frequency and smaller nonlinear frequency of the fractional viscoelastic nanobeam.
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