A nonlinear microbeam model based on strain gradient elasticity theory with surface energy

A microscale nonlinear Bernoulli–Euler beam model on the basis of strain gradient elasticity with surface energy is presented. The von Karman strain tensor is used to capture the effect of geometric nonlinearity. Governing equations of motion and boundary conditions are obtained using Hamilton’s principle. In particular, the developed beam model is applicable for the nonlinear vibration analysis of microbeams. By employing a global Galerkin procedure, the ordinary differential equation corresponding to the first mode of nonlinear vibration for a simply supported microbeam is obtained. Numerical investigations show that in a microbeam having a thickness comparable with its material length scale parameter, the strain gradient effect on increasing the beam natural frequency is higher than that of the geometric nonlinearity. By increasing the beam thickness, the strain gradient effect decreases or even diminishes. In this case, geometric nonlinearity plays the main role on increasing the natural frequency of vibration. In addition, it is shown that for beams with some specific thickness-to-length parameter ratios, both geometric nonlinearity and size effect have significant role on increasing the frequency of nonlinear vibration.