Nonlinear dynamic response of carbon nanotube nanocomposite microbeams

The nonlinear dynamic response of nanocomposite microcantilevers is investigated. The microbeams are made of a polymeric hosting matrix (e.g., epoxy, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and polycarbonate) reinforced by longitudinally aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The 3D transversely isotropic elastic constitutive equations for the nanocomposite material are based on the equivalent inclusion theory of Eshelby and the Mori–Tanaka homogenization approach. The beam-generalized stress resultants, obtained in accordance with the Saint-Venant principle, are expressed in terms of the generalized strains making use of the equivalent constitutive laws. These equations depend on both the hosting matrix and CNTs elastic properties as well as on the CNTs volume fraction, geometry, and orientation. The description of the geometry of deformation and the balance equations for the microbeams are based on the geometrically exact Euler–Bernoulli beam theory specialized to incorporate the additional inextensibility constraint due to the relevant boundary conditions of microcantilevers. The obtained equations of motion are discretized via the Galerkin method retaining an arbitrary number of eigenfunctions. A path following algorithm is then employed to obtain the nonlinear frequency response for different excitation levels and for increasing volume fractions of carbon nanotubes. The fold lines delimiting the multistability regions of the frequency responses are also discussed. The volume fraction is shown to play a key role in shifting the linear frequencies of the beam flexural modes to higher values. The CNT volume fraction further shifts the fold lines to higher excitation amplitudes, while it does not affect the backbones of the modes (i.e., oscillation frequency–amplitude curves).