Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03189-w

TECHNICAL PAPER

Modelling of the flexoelectric effect on rotating nanobeams

with geometrical imperfection
Nguyen Chi Tho1 · Nguyen Truong Thanh2 · To Duc Tho3 · Phung Van Minh4 · Le Kha Hoa5,6 

Received: 2 April 2021 / Accepted: 13 September 2021 / Published online: 23 October 2021
© The Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering 2021

Abstract
Flexoelectricity is the phenomenon of electric polarization caused by the strain gradient, which usually has a huge effect on
nanoscale structures. This paper firstly combines the finite element method (FEM) with a novel third-order shear deforma-
tion beam theory (TSDT) to simulate the static bending and free vibration responses of rotating (around one fixed axis)
piezoelectric nanobeams with geometrical imperfection considering flexoelectric effects, where the structures are placed on
the Pasternak’s elastic foundations. Based on two-node beam elements, the Lagrange and Hermit interpolation functions,
the proposed approach shows high accuracy through the comparative results of this work and published references. A wide
range of parameter studies is conducted such as the rotational speed, shape imperfection, flexoelectric effect, and so on to
evaluate the influences on the static bending and free vibration behaviors of the structures. The novel investigation points
out that when the beams are rotating around one fixed axis, the mechanical responses, in this case, are not similar to those of
normal cases when the rotational speed is zero. This is a new study that can be referenced when designing nanoscale beam
structures in practice.

Keywords  Nanobeams · Rotation, Imperfect · Elastic foundation · Flexoelectric · Static bending · Free vibration

1 Introduction materials to enhance the use efficiency, especially effective

control of a certain parameter as practical requirements.
Micro/nanoscale structures are commonly used in electronic For dielectric crystals, the strain gradient generates electric
components, micro-control devices, and micro/nanoscale polarization, called electricity. Besides, due to the flexo-
systems. They are normally integrated with piezoelectric electric effect, materials and structures become stronger
at the nanoscale size. Therefore, the study of the mechani-
cal behavior of the nanostructures taking into account the
Technical Editor: Aurelio Araujo. flexoelectric effect is a requirement, and in fact, there have
been many studies referring to this novel issue. Based on
* Le Kha Hoa
lekhahoa@tdtu.edu.vn Timoshenko beam theory and Hamilton's principle, Yan and
Jiang [1] introduced a solution for vibration and bending
1
Institute of Techniques for Special Engineering, Le Quy Don analysis of nanobeams considering the flexoelectric effect.
Technical University, Hanoi City, Vietnam The Timoshenko beam theory was also used by Runzhi et al.
2
Academy of Military Science and Technology, Hanoi City, [2] to simulate the deflection and rotation of a beam with the
Vietnam flexoelectric effect. Yue et al. [3] employed the Timoshenko
3
Faculty of Special Equipment, Le Quy Don Technical beam theory to explore more clearly the static bending and
University, Hanoi City, Vietnam free vibration problems of beams under simply supported
4
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Le Quy Don Technical boundaries based on an analytical approach, where the
University, Hanoi City, Vietnam surface and flexoelectric effects were taken into account.
5
Division of Computational Mathematics and Engineering, Xingjia and Ying [4] used the Euler–Bernoulli beam model
Institute for Computational Science, Ton Duc Thang to investigate the flexoelectric effect on the free vibration
University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
of microbeams. Free vibration analysis of nanobeams was
6
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Ton Duc Thang University, presented in the work of Nguyen et al. [5], in which the
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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Page 2 of 22 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510
dynamic flexoelectric effect was considered, the results
showed that free vibration behavior of these structures was
affected strongly by the dynamic and static flexoelectric
coefficients. In the work of Arefi et al. [6], the nonlinear
vibration of FGM nanobeams based on the differential quad-
rature approach was introduced, where the flexoelectric and
surface effects were also considered. Recently, the study of
the mechanical behavior of structures taking into account
the flexoelectricity effect was also pointed out by scientists.
Xie et al. [7] used the Euler–Bernoulli nanobeam theory
to study static bending and free vibration of nanobeams,
focusing on the influence of porosity and flexoelctricity on
the mechanical response of this nanobeam. The Euler–Ber-
noulli beam theory was also employed by Qingqing et al. [8]
to examine the influence of flexoelectricity on the vibration
behavior of functionally graded porous piezoelectric sand-
wich nanobeam reinforced by graphene platelets (GPLs). Jan
et al. [9] evaluated the in-plane deflection and rotation dis-
placements, and induced electric intensity vector of curved
nanobeam taking into account the flexoelectric effect based
on Timoshenko beam theory. Bin and Xian-Fang [10] pre-
sented the flexoelectric effects on the natural frequencies for
free vibration of piezoelectric nanoplates using the Kirchhoff
thin plate theory.
Some large practical mechanical systems (e.g., helicop-
ter blades, aircraft, and ship propellers) and even nano-size
devices (e.g., microturbine) may include blade-like struc-
tures that carry rotational movements, which can be modeled
as rotating beams. Therefore, the study of the mechanical
behavior of the rotating beam structures is also interested in
research. Pradhan and Murmu [11] used Eringen’s nonlocal
elasticity theory and a single nonlocal beam model to study
the mechanical behavior of a rotating nanobeam, in which
differential quadrature method was adopted in this work. Li
et al. [12] researched the free vibration response of a rotating
functionally graded material (FGM) beam using a dynamic
model, the results were taken into account the effects of the
bending and stretching phenomena. Amir et al. [13] inves-
tigated the lead-lag vibration problem of rotating microbe-
ams based on Euler–Bernoulli, and Timoshenko beam theo-
ries and the finite element method. Das [14] used the Ritz
method to calculate the in-plane and out-of-plane mechani-
cal behavior of rotating FGM beam, this work was based on
the Timoshenko beam theory and the Coriolis acceleration
was under consideration. Alireza and Cai [15] investigated
the free vibration response of the rotating rod based on Erin-
gen’s nonlocal elasticity. The vibration control of a rotat-
ing piezoelectric FGM beam in thermal environments was
studied by Liang et al. [16] by using the high-order coupling
modeling theory. Dejin et al. [17] combined the Timoshenko
beam and a re-modified couple stress theories to explore the
free vibration response of rotating microbeams, where the
beams were made from multi-layered composite components
13
with geometric imperfection. Euler–Bernoulli's beam, Erin-
gen's nonlocal elasticity theories, and the Galerkin method
were employed by Atanasov and Stojanovic [18] to analyze
the free vibration of rotating nanobeams, where a wide range
of parameter studies was carried out, especially the speed of
rotation around one fixed axis.
Additionally, during the manufacture of small-scale struc-
tures, geometric imperfections can appear, and their work
efficiency will be affected significantly. There have been
a few studies on the mechanical behavior of micro/nano-
beams taking into account the initial geometric imperfec-
tions. Ghayesh and Amabili [19] used the Galerkin method
to study the nonlinear vibration of microbeams, which had
a geometric imperfection, in which both the transverse and
longitudinal motions were under consideration. Microbe-
ams with geometric imperfection were also studied in the
work of Dehrouyeh-Semnani et al. [20], which was based
on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, then, the free vibration
problem considering transverse-longitudinal equations was
introduced.
Based on the available studies, readers can find that the
study of rotating beam structures taking into account both
the initial geometrical imperfection and the flexoelectric
influence by high-order shear deformation theories has not
been investigated deeply. Besides, the important duty is that
studying this issue contributes significantly to the design
and use of highly efficient nanobeams, therefore, this work
will elucidate this mechanical response by using a novel
third-order shear deformation beam theory, which is a new
theory that does not only require a shear correction factor
but also describes the mechanical behavior of structures very
reliably.
This paper is organized into five sections. Finite element
formulations for the free vibration and bending problems
of rotating nanobeams are presented in Sect. 2, which have
initial geometric imperfections, and the flexoelectric effect is
taken into account. Section 3 carries out verification exam-
ples to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed theory and
mathematical model presented in Sect. 2. Section 4 gives
out the numerical results and discussions of the free vibra-
tion and bending analysis of rotating nanobeams. The novel
points of this investigation are summed up in Sect. 5.
2 Finite element model of rotating
flexoelectric nanobeam
A flexoelectric nanobeam resting on a two-parameter elas-
tic foundation with the length L, width b, and thickness h
is shown in Fig. 1. The beam is rotating around one fixed
axis Υ with the rotational speed Ω . This beam has an ini-
tial geometric imperfection in the z-direction wp(x), the
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510 Page 3 of 22  510

distance from one side of the beam to the rotation axis is r 𝜕u0
(
1 𝜕𝜙x 𝜕 w0
2 )
(see Fig. 1). 𝜀0 = ; 𝜀1 = 5 + ;
𝜕x 4 𝜕x 𝜕x2
The novel third-order shear deformation beam theory is )( 𝜕𝜙 𝜕 2 w0 𝜕w0 dwp
)
−5
(
used in this paper, therefore, the displacements u, and w in 𝜀3 = x
+ ; 𝜀p = (2b)
3h 2 𝜕x 𝜕x 2 𝜕x dx
the x-, and z-directions at any points with the coordinate (x,
z) are expressed as [21–23]:
( ) ( )
5 𝜕w0 (
−5
) 𝜕w0
𝛾0xz = 𝜙x + ; 𝛾2xz = 𝜙 x +
4 𝜕x h2 𝜕x
� 𝜕w (x, 0)
5 4 1 5
⎧ � � �
0
⎪ u(x, z) = u0 (x, 0) + z − 2 z3 𝜙x (x) + z − 2 z3
4 3h 4 3h 𝜕x In this work, the electric field is applied only to the thick-
ness direction, and this work neglects the electric field in the
⎨
⎪ w(x, z) = w0 (x, 0) + wp (x)
x-direction. And this work only considers the strain gradient
⎩
(1)
in the x-axis, the strain gradient in the z-axis and the strain
where w0(x,0) is the displacement in the neutral axis. gradient due to the initial imperfection wp is assumed to
The strain along the x-axis and the shear strain in the be zero, the study of the strain gradient in the z-axis with
linear problem are expressed as follow [19, 21]: nonzero values have been shown in the works [24, 25], read-
(
𝜕 2 w0
) ers can read for better understanding.
𝜕u 𝜕u0 1 𝜕𝜙
𝜀xx = = +z 5 x + That strain gradient in the longitudinal direction of the
𝜕x 𝜕x 4 𝜕x 𝜕x2
beam is written as:
𝜕 2 w0
( )
𝜕w dw0
) 𝜕𝜙
−5
(
x
+ z3 + + ( 2 )
3h2 𝜕x 𝜕x2 𝜕x dx 𝜕𝜀x 1 𝜕𝜙x 𝜕 w0
(2a) 𝜂xxz = = 5 +
3
= 𝜀0 + z𝜀1 + z 𝜀3 + 𝜀p 𝜕z 4 𝜕x 𝜕x2
(3)
( )( 𝜕𝜙 𝜕 2 w0
)
−5
( ) ( )
5 𝜕w0 −5
( ) 𝜕w0 + z2 2 x
+ = 𝜀 + 3z2
𝜀
𝛾xz = 𝜙x + + z2 2 𝜙x + h 𝜕x 𝜕x2 1 3
4 𝜕x h 𝜕x
= 𝛾0xz + z2 𝛾2xz For simplicity of calculation, this work does not con-
sider the effect of size effect, the omission of this effect has
with
also been shown in works [26], so ignoring this effect is
not very accurate but still acceptable. The stress component

Fig. 1  A flexoelectric nanobeam

resting on a two-parameter
elastic foundation

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Page 4 of 22 Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510

and electric displacement vector for a nanoscale dielectric

2∫
1 � T T T
UE =
�
𝜀xx Txx + 𝛾xz Txz + 𝜂xz Θxz dV
material (with the flexoelectric effect) are expressed as [26]: V

2∫
1 � T T T
C66 𝛾xz − 𝜀Txx e31 Ez − 𝜂xz
�
Tij = cijkl 𝜀kl − ekij Ej = 𝜀xx C11 𝜀xx + 𝛾xz f14 Ez dV
V
Θijm = −fkijm Ej (4) ⎛ 𝜀T0 C11 𝜀0 + 𝜀T0 C11 𝜀p + 𝜀T0 zC11 𝜀1 + 𝜀T0 z3 C11 𝜀3 ⎞
Ki = cijk 𝜀jk + 𝜅ij Ek + fijkl 𝜂jkl
⎜ ⎟
⎜ +𝜀T C 𝜀 + 𝜀T C 𝜀 + 𝜀T zC 𝜀 + 𝜀T z3 C 𝜀 ⎟
⎜ p 11 0 p 11 p p 11 1 p 11 3 ⎟

2 ∫ ⎜⎜ 1 11 0
1 ⎜ T T T 2 T 4
⎟
in which cijkl , ekij , fkijm and 𝜅ij are the components of elastic, = +𝜀 zC 𝜀 + 𝜀 1 zC 𝜀
11 p + 𝜀 1 z C 𝜀
11 1 + 𝜀 1 z C 𝜀
11 3 ⎟dV

piezoelectric, flexoelectric and permittivity constant, these

V
⎟
⎜ +𝜀T z3 C 𝜀 + 𝜀T z3 C 𝜀 + 𝜀T z3 C 𝜀 + 𝜀T z6 C 𝜀 ⎟
⎜ 3 11 0 3 11 p 3 11 1 3 11 3

parameters depend on the properties of the material. Tij is

⎟
⎜ T T 2 T 2 T 4 ⎟
⎝ +𝛾0xz C66 𝛾0xz + 𝛾0xz z C66 𝛾2xz + 𝛾2xz z C66 𝛾0xz + 𝛾2xz z C66 𝛾2xz ⎠
the stress components, Ki is the electric displacement vector, 2
e2 e231 e2
⎛ T e31 T 31 T 3 31
and Θijm is the moment stress tensor. These components are
T
⎜ 𝜀0 𝜅 𝜀0 + 𝜀0 𝜅 𝜀p + 𝜀0 z 𝜅 𝜀1 + 𝜀0 z 𝜅 𝜀3
⎞
⎟
33 33 33 33
expressed clearly as follows:
⎜ ⎟
2 2 2 2
⎜
T
e31 T
e 31 T
e 31 T 3
e 31
⎟
⎜ +𝜀p 𝜀 + 𝜀p 𝜀 + 𝜀p z 𝜀 + 𝜀p z 𝜀
𝜅33 0 𝜅33 p 𝜅33 1 𝜅33 3
⎟

∫
1
(5)
⎜ ⎟
Txx = C11 𝜀x − e31 Ez ; Txz = C66 𝛾xz +
2 ⎜
e 2
e 2
e2
e2 ⎟dV
V T 31 T 31 T 2 31 T 4 31
+𝜀 + + +
⎜ ⎟
⎜ 1 𝜅 0z 𝜀 𝜀 z 𝜀 𝜀 z 𝜀 𝜀 z 𝜀
⎜ 33
1 𝜅
33
p 1 𝜅33 1 1 𝜅33 3 ⎟⎟
Θxz = −f14 Ez (6) e2 e2 e2 e2
⎜ ⎟
⎜ +𝜀T z3 31 𝜀 + 𝜀T z3 31 𝜀 + 𝜀T z3 31 𝜀 + 𝜀T z6 31 𝜀 ⎟
⎝ 3 𝜅 0 3 𝜅 p 3 𝜅 1 3 𝜅 3⎠
33 33 33 33

⎛ T f14 e31 T 2 f14 e31 T f14 e31 T 2 f14 e31

(7) ⎜ 𝜀0 𝜅 𝜀1 + 3𝜀0 z 𝜅 𝜀3 + 𝜀p 𝜅 𝜀1 + 3𝜀p z 𝜅 𝜀3 ⎟
⎞
Kz = e31 𝜀xx + 𝜅33 Ez + f14 𝜂xz 33 33 33 33
⎜ ⎟
⎜ T f14 e31 f e
∫
1
𝜀1 + 3𝜀T1 z3 14 31 𝜀3
⎟
where f14 = f3113 and f14 = f3223 [27].
+ +𝜀1 z ⎟dV
2 ⎜ 𝜅33 𝜅33
V
⎜ ⎟
The relationship as shown in expression (4) is a simple ⎜ T 3 f14 e31
⎜ +𝜀3 z T 5 f14 e31
𝜀 + 3𝜀3 z 𝜀
⎟
𝜅33 1 𝜅33 3
case, in the general case, readers can see more in documents
⎟
⎝ ⎠
⎛ T f14 e31 T f14 e31 T f14 e31 T 3 f14 e31
[28, 29] to understand more. ⎜ 𝜀1 𝜅 𝜀0 + 𝜀1 𝜅 𝜀p + 𝜀1 z 𝜅 𝜀1 + 𝜀1 z 𝜅 𝜀3 ⎟
⎞
33 33 33 33
In this work, the external electric field is not applied to ⎜
f e f e
⎟

2∫ ⎜
1
+3𝜀T3 z2 14 31 𝜀0 + 3𝜀T3 z2 14 31 𝜀p
⎜ ⎟
+ ⎟dV
the nanobeam, and then the electric displacement equals the V
⎜ 𝜅33 𝜅33 ⎟
electric polarization. The component f14 𝜂xxz in the expres- f e f e
⎜ +3𝜀T3 z3 14 31 𝜀1 + 3𝜀T3 z5 14 31 𝜀3
⎜ ⎟
⎟
𝜅33 𝜅33
sion of Kz as presented in Eq. (7) is the polarization, which
⎝ ⎠
� 2 2 2 2
�
f f f f
is caused by the strain gradient in the nanobeam. +
2∫
1
𝜀T1 14 𝜀1 + 3𝜀T1 z2 14 𝜀3 + 3𝜀T3 z2 14 𝜀1 + 9𝜀T3 z4 14 𝜀3 dV
𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33
According to Gaussian’s law in electrostatics, the electric V

charge is free, one gets [26]: (10)

For the relationships as shown in expression (4), the
𝜕Kz one between mechanical strain, strain gradient of
=0 (8)
𝜕z m e c(h a n i c a l strain )wit h electr ical component
1
∫ −𝜀Txx e31 Ez − 𝜂xzT
f14 Ez dV and flexoelectric is only shown
The expression of the internal electric field is written with 2
V
the open-circuit condition: in the expression of energy of the beam. In the case where
there are full components of the electromechanical coupling
e31 ( ) f (
𝜀0 + z𝜀1 + z3 𝜀3 + 𝜀p − 14 𝜀1 + 3z2 𝜀3 (9) as in the general case, readers can refer to the literature [7].
)
Ez = −
𝜅33 𝜅33 The energy of the two-parameter elastic foundation is
Thus, in the expression of E z, the first component calculated as:
+ z𝜀1 + z3 𝜀3 + 𝜀p presents the relation to the piezo-
e31 ( )
𝜀0 ( ( )2 )
𝜕w
2 ∫
𝜅33 1 0
electricity parameter e 31, and the second component UF = b k1 w20 + k2 dx (11)
𝜕x
relates to the strain gradient and flexoelec-
f14 ( 2
)
𝜅
𝜀 1 + 3z 𝜀 3 L
33
tricity parameter f14. where k1 and k2 are the two coefficients of the elastic
With the open-circuit condition, one gets the formulation foundation.
of the electric Gibbs free energy as follows: The kinetic energy of the nanobeam is defined as:

13
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510 Page 5 of 22  510

⎛� �⎡ 𝜕u ⎤⎞ ⎧ u0i ⎫
𝜕w
2 ∫ ⎜⎜ 𝜕t 𝜕t ⎢⎢ 𝜕w0 ⎥⎥⎟⎟
1 𝜕u 0 ⎢ 𝜕t ⎥⎟
TK = (12) 2
⎜ ⎪ ⎪
𝜌 , dV � ⎪ w0i
(17)
⎪
qe =
i=1 ⎪ 𝜙xi
V
⎨ ⎬
⎝ ⎣ 𝜕t ⎦⎠
� �⎪
⎪ 𝜕w ∕𝜕x ⎪
where 𝜌 is the density of the nanobeam. ⎩ 0 i⎭

Because the nanobeam rotates around the fixed axis with

in which the displacement components at each point of the
the speed 𝛺 , the potential energy of this nanobeam gener-
element will be calculated through the Lagrange Ni and Her-
ated by a centrifugal force has the following form [17]:
mit function Hj as follows:
( ( )2 )
𝜕w
2∫
1 0
U Ro = Qc (x) dx (13) ⎧ � 2
𝜕x ⎪ u0 = Ni u0i = Pu qe
L ⎪ i=1
in which the centrifugal force Qc is calculated as [17]:
⎪
⎪ 2
�
⎪ 𝜙x = Ni 𝜙xi = P𝜙 qe

2∫
1 1(
( [ )]) i=1
Qc = 𝜌Ω2 r(L − x) + L2 − x2
⎪
dS (14)
2 2 �
⎪ � ��
S
⎪ � 𝜕w0
⎨ w0 = Hi w0i + Hi+1 = Lqe
𝜕x i
The work done by the uniformly distributed load Funi act- i=1
⎪
2 �
ing on the nanobeam has the following form:
⎪ � ��
⎪ 𝜕w0 � 𝜕Hi 𝜕Hi+1 𝜕w0
⎪ 𝜕x = w +
𝜕x 0i 𝜕x 𝜕x i
= Lx qe
i=1

∫
W Forc = b.h. wT0 Funi dx
( ) ⎪
(15) ⎪ 2 2 � 2 2 � ��
L
⎪ 𝜕 w0 = � 𝜕 Hi w + 𝜕 Hi+1 𝜕w0 = Lxx qe
⎪ 𝜕x2
i=1
𝜕x2 0i 𝜕x2 𝜕x i
Now this work uses Hamilton’s principle, which is
⎩
(18)
expressed as:
Or they can be re-written in the matrix form as:
t2 t2

∫ ∫
(
T − U E − U F − U Ro dt + 𝛿
) ( Forc ) ⎧ w0
(16)
𝛿 W dt = 0 ⎫ ⎡ L ⎤
⎬ = ⎢ P ⎥⎥.qe = Lu .qe (19)
⎪ ⎪ ⎢
t1 t1 u = ⎨ 𝜙x
⎪ 𝜕w ∕𝜕x⎪ ⎣ L ⎦
1
Herein, a two-node element is used in this work, and each ⎩ 0 ⎭
node has two degrees of freedom:
The longitudinal strain and the strain gradient of the
nanobeam will be written as follows:

𝜕u0 𝜕Pu
𝜀0 = = q = Pux qe
𝜕x 𝜕x e
1 𝜕P𝜙 1 𝜕P𝜙
( ) ( )
𝜀1 = 5 q + Lxx qe = 5 + Lxx qe = L1 qe
4 𝜕x e 4 𝜕x
𝜕 2 w0 ) 𝜕P𝜙 )( 𝜕P𝜙
(
) 𝜕𝜙 ) ( ) ( )
−5 −5 −5
( (
x
𝜀3 = + = q + Lxx qe = + Lxx qe = L3 qe
3h2 𝜕x 𝜕x2 3h2 𝜕x e 3h2 𝜕x (20)
𝜕w0 dwp dwp
𝜀p = = L q = Lp qe
𝜕x dx dx x e
5( ) 5( )
𝛾0xz = P𝜙 qe + Lx qe = P𝜙 + Lx qe = L0𝛾 qe
4 4
−5 ) ( −5 )(
( )( )
𝛾2xz = 2
P q
𝜙 e + L x e =
q 2
P𝜙 + Lx qe = L2𝛾 qe
h h

13
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𝜂xxz = L1 qe + 3z2 L3 qe (21) The energies of the elastic foundation and the centrifugal
inertial force have the following expressions:
The electric Gibbs free energy (10) of each beam element
is now written through the element nodal displacements as:

⎛ PTux C11 Pux + PTux C11 Lp + PTux zC11 L1 + PTux z3 C11 L3 ⎞

⎜ T T T T 3 ⎟
⎜ +Lp C11 Pux + Lp C11 Lp + Lp zC11 L1 + Lp z C11 L3 ⎟

2 ∫ ⎜⎜ 1 11 ux
1 T ⎜ T T T 2 T 4 ⎟
= qe +L zC P + L1 zC11 Lp + L1 z C11 L1 + L1 z C11 L3 ⎟dVqe
T 3 T 3 T 3 T 6
⎜ +L3 z C11 Pux + L3 z C11 Lp + L3 z C11 L1 + L3 z C11 L3 ⎟
V
⎟
⎜ +LT C L + LT z2 C L + LT z2 C L + LT z4 C L ⎟
⎝ 0𝛾 66 0𝛾 0𝛾 66 2𝛾 2𝛾 66 0𝛾 2𝛾 66 2𝛾 ⎠

⎛ T e231 e2
T 31 T
e231 T 3 31
e2 ⎞
P
⎜ ux P ux
+ P ux L p + P ux z L 1 + P ux z L3
𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33
⎟
⎜ ⎟
2 2 2 2
⎜ e e e e ⎟
⎜ +LT 31 P + LT 31 Lp + LT z 31 L1 + LT z3 31 L3 ⎟
⎜ p 𝜅33 ux p p p

2 ∫ ⎜⎜
1 T 𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 ⎟
+ qe 2 2 2 2 ⎟dVqe
e
T 31
e
T 31 T 2 31
e e
T 4 31
⎜ +L1 z 𝜅 Pux + L1 z 𝜅 Lp + L1 z 𝜅 L1 + L1 z 𝜅 L3 ⎟
V
⎟
⎜ 33 33 33 33 ⎟
⎜ T 3 e231 e
T 3 31
2
T 3 31
e 2
e2
T 6 31
⎟
⎜ +L3 z Pux + L3 z Lp + L3 z L1 + L3 z L3 ⎟
𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 ⎠
(22)
⎝
⎛ T f14 e31 T 2 f14 e31 T f14 e31 T 2 f14 e31 ⎞
⎜ Pux 𝜅 L1 + 3Pux z 𝜅 L3 + Lp 𝜅 L1 + 3Lp z 𝜅 L3 ⎟
⎜ 33 33 33 33 ⎟
⎜ T f14 e31 f e
2 ∫ ⎜⎜ 1 𝜅33 1
1 T T 3 14 31 ⎟
+ qe +L z L + 3L1 z L ⎟dVqe
𝜅33 3
V
⎟
⎜ T 3 f14 e31 f 14 e31
L1 + 3LT3 z5
⎟
⎜ +L3 z L3
𝜅 𝜅
⎟
⎝ 33 33 ⎠
⎛ T f14 e31 T f14 e31 T f14 e31 T 3 f14 e31 ⎞
⎜ L1 𝜅 Pux + L1 𝜅 Lp + L1 z 𝜅 L1 + L1 z 𝜅 L3 ⎟
⎜ 33 33 33 33 ⎟
T 2 f14 e31 T 2 f14 e31
2 ∫ ⎜⎜
1 T ⎜ ⎟
+ qe +3L3 z P + 3L3 z L ⎟dVqe
𝜅33 ux 𝜅33 p
V
⎟
⎜ T 3 f14 e31 T 5 f14 e31 ⎟
⎜ +3L3 z L1 + 3L3 z L3
𝜅33 𝜅33
⎟
⎝ ⎠
� �
2 2 2 2
f f f f (24)
2 ∫
1
+ qTe LT1 14 L1 + 3LT1 z2 14 L3 + 3LT3 z2 14 L1 + 9LT3 z4 14 L3 dVqe
𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33 𝜅33
V

Equation (22) can be written in the matrix form as:

2 ⎜ ∫
⎛ � ⎞
1 T⎜ � T 1
UeF = qe b k1 L L + k2 LTx Lx dx⎟qe = qTe K Fe qe ;
1 T E ⎟ 2
UeE = q K q (23) ⎝ L ⎠
2 e e e

2 ⎜∫
⎛ � ⎞
1 ⎜ � c 1
UeRo = qe Q (x)LTx Lx dx⎟qe = qTe K Ro
e qe
⎟ 2
⎝L ⎠

The kinetic energy of each element is now calculated as:

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Table 1  The first fundamental Mode Method This work

frequencies (Hz) of nanobeams
with the flexoelectric effect 1 Exact [26] 6 elements 8 elements 10 elements 12 elements 14 elements
(S–S)
8 8 8 8 8
2.4066 × ­10 2.4065 × ­10 2.4064 × ­10 2.4064 × ­10 2.4064 × ­10 2.4064 × ­108
2 9.6263 × ­108 9.6257 × ­108 9.62243 × ­108 9.62149 × ­108 9.62114 × ­108 9.6209 × ­108
3 21.6593 × ­108 21.6781 × ­108 21.6463 × ­108 21.6364 × ­108 21.6327 × ­108 21.6310 × ­108

⎛� �⎡ 𝜕u ⎤⎞
𝜕w
∫
1 𝜕u ⎢ 𝜕t ⎥⎟
TeK = , 0 ⎢
⎜
𝜌⎜ dV
2 𝜕t 𝜕t ⎢ 𝜕w0 ⎥⎥⎟⎟
V
⎜
⎝ ⎣ 𝜕t ⎦⎠
⎡ T 5 4 3
� �
P + z − z P𝜙 ⎥ ⎟
⎛ ⎤ ⎞
5 4 (25)
� �
T 3 u 4 2
3h
⎢ Pu + z − 2 z P𝜙 ⎥⎢ �
⎜ ⎡ ⎤ ⎢

2 ⎜∫ ⎢
1 ⎜
= q̇ Te ⎜ 𝜌⎢ � 4 3h
⎥⎢ + 1 z − 5 z3 Lx
� ⎥ ⎟
1 5 3
� ⎥dV ⎟q̇ e
V + z − 2 z Lx , Lx ⎥⎢ 4 3h2 ⎥ ⎟
4 3h
⎣ Lx
⎜ ⎣ ⎦⎢ ⎥ ⎟
⎝ ⎦ ⎠
1
= q̇ Te Me q̇ e
2

The expression of the work done of the uniformly distrib-

So in the above equations, the element stiffness matrix
uted load Funi acting on the beam element is expressed as:
includes the components relating to the flexoelectric effect
f14, rotational speed Ω , elastic foundation parameters k1 and

∫
k2, and the geometric imperfection coefficient of the nano-
⎛ � T uni � ⎞
WeForc = qTe ⎜b.h. L F dx⎟ = qTe Fe (26)
⎜ ⎟ beam w0.
L
In this paper, some common boundary conditions are
⎝ ⎠

Substituting Eqs. (23)-(26) into (16), one gets the free described as follows:
vibration equation of the nanobeam with the flexoelectric
effect and the rotation around one fixed axis as: • One side is simply supported:

w=0 (29a)
{ }
∑( E ∑ ∑
K e + K Fe + K Ro 2
(27)
)
− 𝜔 M qe = 0
e e • One side is clamped:
e e e

𝜕w
For the static bending problem, the following equation w = 0, =0 (29b)
𝜕x
is established:
∑( E ∑
K e + K Fe + K Ro
)
e
qe = Fe (28)
e e

Table 2  The nondimensional frequencies ( 𝜔̂  ) of the beam resting on the two-parameter elastic foundation, Kw∗ = 10, Ks∗ = 1 , S–S
a/h = 100
Mode Exact solution [30] This work
6 elements 8 elements 10 elements 12 elements 14 elements

Without elastic foundation 1 2.849 2.8494 2.8493 2.8493 2.849 2.8493

2 11.396 11.4015 11.3976 11.3965 11.396 11.3959
3 25.642 25.6929 25.6554 25.6438 25.639 25.6374
With elastic foundation 1 4.131 4.1312 4.1313 4.1313 4.1313 4.1313
2 12.774 12.7754 12.7739 12.7734 12.7732 12.7731
3 27.044 27.0765 27.0513 27.0430 27.0399 27.0384

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Table 4  The maximum nondimensional deflections w = qEIL4 wmax of

0
the S–S beam subjected to the uniformly distributed load with differ-
ent elastic foundation parameters
Foundation L/h = 120
parameters

Kw Ks DQM [33] Exact [33] Exact [34] This work

0 0 1.302290 1.302290 1.3033 1.301692

10 0.644827 0.644827 0.6457 0.644679
25 0.366111 0.366111 0.3671 0.366063
10 0 1.180567 1.180567 1.1814 1.180075
10 0.613325 0.613326 0.6141 0.613192
25 0.355668 0.355668 0.3566 0.355622
100 0 0.640074 0.640074 0.6403 0.639927
10 0.425582 0.425582 0.4261 0.425517
25 0.282846 0.282846 0.2836 0.282817

Fig. 2  The comparative results of the first nondimensional frequen-

cies of geometrically imperfect beams (S–S) Table 5  The maximum nondimensional deflections w = qEIL4 wmax of
0
the C–C beam subjected to the uniformly distributed load with differ-
ent elastic foundation parameters
Table 3  First three nondimensional frequencies of the rotating C-F Foundation param- L/h = 120
beam ( 𝜛i ) with different rotational speeds eters
Mode Method Rotation speed ratio 𝜂 Kw Ks DQM) [33] Exact [34] This work
𝛽 = 0 𝛽 = 3 𝛽 = 6 𝛽 = 12
0 0 0.26064 0.2616 0.26033
𝜛1 This work 3.5163 4.7939 7.3522 13.1552 10 0.20862 0.2095 0.20840
Exact [31] 3.5160 4.7973 7.3604 13.1702 25 0.16081 0.1617 0.16066
DMM [32] 3.5160 4.7973 7.3604 – 10 0 0.25547 0.2565 0.25518
IA [17] 3.5118 4.7733 7.3276 – 10 0.20528 0.2062 0.20507
𝜛2 This work 22.0339 23.3106 26.7755 37.4994 25 0.15880 0.1597 0.15865
Exact [31] 22.0345 23.3203 26.8091 37.6031 100 0 0.21670 0.2174 0.21649
DMM [32] – – – – 10 0.17935 0.1800 0.17919
IA [17] – – – – 25 0.14273 0.1435 0.14261
𝜛3 This work 61.6883 62.9660 66.6362 79.4633
Exact [31] 61.6972 62.9850 66.6840 79.6145
DMM [32] – – – – 3 Verification study
IA [17] – – – –
𝜛4 This work 120.8756 122.1966 126.0647 140.3239 This section introduces five verification examples to evalu-
Exact [31] 120.902 122.236 126.140 140.534 ate the accuracy of the proposed theory and mathematical
DMM [32] – – – – model for the static bending and free vibration problems
IA [17] – – – – of nanobeams. The results of this work are compared with
those of numerous other methods.

and S represents for simply supported boundary condi-
tion, C represents for clamped supported boundary con-
dition, F represents for free boundary condition. Three
boundary conditions are used in this work as:
• One side is clamped, the other side is free: C-F.
• Fully simply supported beam: S–S.
• Fully clamped beam: C–C.
Example 1  This example analyzes the first fundamental fre-
quency of nanobeams (made of PZT-5H) with the flexoelec-
tric effect. The fully simply supported beam with the length
L = 50 h and the thickness h = 20 nm, and material proper-
ties are c11 = 102 GPa, e31 = − 17.05 C/m2; k33 = 1.76.10−8
C/(Vm), f14 = ­10−7 C/m, and mass density 𝜌 = 7600 kg/m3.
The first fundamental frequency of the nanobeam with the
flexoelectric effect is compared with that of the analytical

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formulation of Yang et al. [26], where the number of ele- ⎧ K ∗ = K1 L

4
ments is increased gradually for each case, all results are ⎪ w D
presented in Table 1. The numerical results of this work 2 (30)
K
⎪ K∗ = 2L
⎨
show that as the number of elements increases, the results ⎩ s D𝜋 2
converge to the value calculated according to the value cal-
culated by the analytical formulation of Yang et al. [26]. with

Example 2  This example is about to compare the first fun- Ebh3

D= (31)
damental frequency of nanobeams resting on two-param- 12
eter elastic foundations. Consider a nanobeam made from The nondimensional frequency of the beam is defined by
Aluminum with the geometrical and material properties the following formula:
as L/h = 100, the width b, the thickness h, Young’s modu-
lus E = 70 GPa, and the mass density 𝜌 = 2702 kg/m3. The
√
L2 𝜌
𝜔̂ = 𝜔1 (32)
beam is fully simply supported at two sides, and placed on h E
the elastic foundation with two nondimensional parameters
defined as: The numerical results with different mesh sizes obtained
from this work and the analytical method [30] are reported
in Table 2. One can see that with 10 elements, the accuracy
is acceptable, hence, this work will use this mesh for all fol-
lowing investigations.

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 3  The dependence of the first three nondimensional frequencies of the beam on the rotational speed and the distance r of the geometrically
imperfect beam (C-F), 𝜓0 = 0.001, f14∗
 = 1, Kw∗  = 10, Ks∗ = 2

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Fig. 4  The dependence of the

first three nondimensional
frequencies of the beam on
the rotational speed and the
distance r of the geometri-
cally imperfect beam với hai
điều kiện biên S–S và C–C,
𝜓0 = ­10−3, f14
∗
= 1 , Kw∗  = 10,
Ks  = 2
∗

(a) (b)

(a) (b)

Fig. 5  The dependence of the first four nondimensional frequencies of the beam on the rotational speed

Example 3  This problem verifies the natural frequencies
of the geometrical imperfect beam. Consider an S–S beam
with the geometrical and material properties as L = 288.7 h,
h = 0.02 m, b = 0.04 m, E = 971 GPa, and the mass den-
sity 𝜌 = 2300 kg/m3. The initial imperfection of beam is
w0 (x) = A0 sin (𝜋x) , where A0 is the amplitude of the imper-
fection. The first nondimensional frequency and initial
imperfection coefficient 𝜓0 are defined as follows:
√ The speed and the first nondimensional frequency are nor-
𝜔 ∗∗= 𝜔1
12𝜌L4
Eh2 (33)
A0
𝜓0 =
L Eh
Figure 2 presents the dependence of the first nondimen-
sional frequency with the increase of the initial imperfection
coefficient 𝜓0 . These results are compared with those of the
pseudo-arclength continuation technique [19].
Example 4  Next, this example verifies the beam rotating
around a fixed axis. Consider a cantilever beam with the
length L, the thickness h = b = L/100, r = 0; material proper-
ties are E = 70 GPa, and the mass density 𝜌 = 2700 kg/m3.
The beam is rotating around a fixed axis with the speed Ω .
malized as follows:
√ √
12𝜌 12𝜌
𝛽=L Ω 2
2
; 𝜛i = 𝜔i L 2
(34)
Eh2
The results of the first three nondimensional frequen-
cies of the beam with different rotational speeds Ω obtained
from this work, exact solution [31], a new dynamic modeling

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(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 6  The first nondimensional frequency of the geometrically imperfect beam with the flexoelectric effect with three boundary conditions

Fig. 7  The dependence of the first nondimensional frequency of the geometrically imperfect beam on f14 with 𝛽 = 0 and 10

method (DMM) [32], and isogeometric analysis (IA) [17] Example 5  Finally, this last example presents the deflection
are presented in Table 3. of the beam resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation.
Consider a beam with the length L, the rectangular cross

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section bxh, and I = bh3/12. The beam is subjected to the The first nondimensional frequency, the maximum deflec-
uniformly distributed load q0. Two nondimensional elastic tion of the nanobeam, and other parameters are calculated
f o u n d a t4i o n p a r2a m e t e r s a r e c a l c u l a t e d a s as follows:
 . The following Table 4 presents the
K1 L K2 L
K w = EI , K s = EI √
maximum nondimensional deflections of the beam 12𝜌 103 c11 h3
𝜔∗i = 𝜔i L2 ; w ∗= w ;
w = qEIL4 wmax obtained from this work, the differential quad- c11 h2 12q0 a4 max
0
rature method (DQM) [33], the exact solutions based on the f14 kw L 4 ks L2
∗
two-dimensional state equation of elasticity [33], and the f14 = 0
; Kw∗ = ; Ks∗ = ;
f14 Df 𝜋 2 Df
exact solutions based on Timoshenko beams [34] (Table 5). √
2 12𝜌 c11 h3
𝛽=L Ω ; Df =
Eh2 12 (35)
4 Numerical results
and to see clearly how the mechanical load q0 affects the
The numerical results of the beam used in this section with electric field Ez, herein, this work gives the following
the material properties are c11 = 102 GPa, e31 = − 17.05 C/ parameter:
m2, k33 = 1.76.10−8 C/(Vm), f140
 = ­10−7 C/m, and 𝜌 = 7600 kg/ ( )
3
m . The beam is under the uniformly distributed load with Ez z = 2h (
Vm (36)
)
Ez∗ =
the value of q0 = 0.05 MPa. The imperfection of the beam is q0 N
wp (x) = A0 sin (𝜋x) , where A0 is the amplitude of the imper-
fection and the imperfection ratio is 𝜓0 = L0 .
A where Ez is given as Eq. (9).

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 8  The dependence of the first nondimensional frequency of the nanobeam on 𝜓0

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4.1 Free vibration analysis • When the distance r increases, nondimensional fre-

4.1.1 Effect of the rotational speed
Consider a geometrically imperfect beam (C-F) with geo-
metrical parameters are L/h = 100, h = 10 nm, imperfect
value 𝜓0 = 0.001, f14
∗
 = 1, Kw∗  = 10, and Ks∗ = 2. Changing the
rotational speed of the beam Ω so that the rotational speed
coefficient 𝛽 varies in a range of 0 to10 and the distance
ratio r/L = 0–2. The first three nondimensional frequencies
of the C-F beam are presented in Fig. 3; the first three non-
dimensional frequencies of the beam with other boundary
conditions (S–S and C–C) are presented in Fig. 4; the first
four vibration mode shapes of the C-F beam are presented
in Fig. 5. The numerical results point out that:
quencies of the beam also increase. However, with a
small rotational speed of the beam, when the distance
r is increased, nondimensional frequencies of the beam
increases lightly. In contrast, in the case of a greater rota-
tional speed, as the distance r increases, nondimensional
frequencies of the beam increase greatly.
• When changing the rotational speed, the vibration mode
shapes of the beam are also changed significantly. Thus,
the rotational speed not only changes the value of nondi-
mensional frequencies of the nanobeam but also signifi-
cantly affects the vibration mode shapes of the structure.

• When increasing the rotational speed of the beam Ω , non-

dimensional frequencies of the beam increase.

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 9  The dependence of maximum deflection of the nanobeam on the rotational speed coefficient 𝛽 with three boundary conditions

13
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(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

103 c11 h3
Fig. 10  The deflection shape of the nanobeam on the rotational speed coefficient 𝛽 with three boundary conditions, w∗∗ = 12q0 a4
w(x)

4.1.2 Influence of the flexoelectric effect 𝜓0 = 0.001, Kw∗ = 10, Ks∗ = 2. To figure out the influence of the
flexoelectric effect f14 on the free vibration of the rotating
Consider a geometrically imperfect beam (C-F) with the beam, the value of f14 is changed so that the value of f14 ∗

geometrical parameters are L/h = 100, h = 10 nm, imperfect obtained the value in a range of 0 to 10, which is

13
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(a) (b)

(c) (d)
2 2

0 0
Ez [Vm/N]
Ez [Vm/N]

-2 -2
*

C-F C-F
*

-4 -4

-6 -6 β =0, r=2
β =0, r=0
β =4, r=0 β =4, r=2
-8 -8 β =6, r=2
β =6, r=0
β =10, r=0 β =10, r=2
-10 -10

-12 -12
0 0.2 0.4 x/L 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 x/L 0.6 0.8 1
(e) S-S, r = 0 (f) S-S, r = 2L

Fig. 11  The electric field shape of the nanobeam depends on the rotational speed coefficient 𝛽 with three boundary conditions

13
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corresponding to the rotational speed 𝛽 changing from 0 to nondimensional frequency of the nanobeam increases
10. The first nondimensional frequency of the nanobeam (Fig. 8).
with three boundary conditions is presented in Fig. 6. To see
more clearly the influence of the flexoelectric effect on the 4.2 The bending analysis of nanobeams
first nondimensional frequency of the nanobeam, the follow-
𝜔∗ (with f ∗ ≠ 0)
ing ratio is defined as 𝜔1∗ with f14∗ = 0  , and this ratio is plotted in This section investigates the bending of a geometrically
1( )
14
imperfect beam rotating around one fixed axis Δ . The fol-
Fig. 7 corresponding to two cases of the rotational speed.
lowing numerical results are the novel explorations, which
The numerical results show that:
are not introduced in any publications.
• When taking into account the flexoelectric effect, the
4.2.1 Influence of the rotational speed on the bending
stiffness of the structure increases, therefore, the nondi-
behavior of nanobeams
mensional frequencies of the nanobeam increase.
Consider a nanobeam with L/h = 100, h = 10 nm, imperfect
parameter 𝜓0 = 0.001, f14 ∗
 = 1, Kw∗  = 10, and Ks∗ = 2. Changing
For the case of f14 = 10, the nondimensional frequencies
the rotational speed Ω so that the rotational speed coefficient
of the nanobeam are much increased as the speed of rota-
𝛽 varies in a range of 0 to 10, and the distance ration r/L var-
tion of the beam increases. The influence of the flexoelec-
ies in a range of 0 to 2, the dependence of maximum deflec-
tric effect depends greatly on the boundary conditions of
tion of the beam on the rotational speed and the distance r
the beam, the C–C beam gives the largest nondimensional
is presented in Fig. 9. The deflection shape of the beam with
frequency, and the first nondimensional frequency also
different rotational speed Ω and the distance r is presented
increases the most when f14 increases. The C-F beam will
in Fig. 10. One can see that:
give the smallest nondimensional frequency and the first
nondimensional frequency will increase less than that of the
• When increasing the rotational speed, the maximum
other two boundary conditions. This is explained as follows,
deflection of the beam decreases. This can be explained
the CC beam has the greatest stiffness, and the C-F beam has
that when the rotational speed increases, the beam is
the smallest one. The reason is that the CC beam has more
subjected additionally the centrifugal inertia force in the
degrees of freedom at the constrained boundary than those
longitudinal direction of the beam, therefore, the stiffness
of the C-F beam. As a result, the greater the stiffness of the
of the structure is enhanced. The change of maximum
beam, the greater the frequency of vibration of the beam due
deflection is more pronounced when increasing the value
to the mass of the beam does not depend on the boundary
of distance r.
conditions. In addition, when the flexoelectricity effect is
• Additionally, when increasing the rotational speed, the
added, the stiffness of the plate increases because the stiff-
deflection shape of the beam is no longer symmetrical
ness matrix of the plate is increased by an amount related
through position x = L/2. The position of the maximum
to f14, as a result, the increase of the frequency depends on
deflection point will move to the right position with
boundary conditions.
respect to the mid-beam point, which is completely dif-
ferent from the case that the beam does not rotate around
4.1.3 Influence of the imperfect ratio
the fixed axis.
Next, to observe more clearly the influence of the geometri-
cal imperfection on the nondimensional frequency of the
Figure 11 shows the distribution of Ez along the length of
nanobeam, changing 𝜓0 so that its value obtains from 0 to
the beam in the two cases of r for different boundary condi-
0.002, while f14
∗
 = 1, Kw∗ = 0–20, Ks∗ = 2, r = a, and 𝛽 = 10. The
tions. One can see that the rotational speed of the beam, as
numerical results point out that:
well as the distance r from the axis of rotation to the beam,
affect the distribution of Ez, which is most evident for the
• When increasing the geometrical imperfection coefficient
symmetric boundary conditions (SS and CC). The greater
of the nanobeam, it means 𝜓0 increases, the nondimen-
the rotational speed, the further away the maximum position
sional frequency of the nanobeam increases.
of Ez is from the axis of rotation, and the maximum value of
• When the elastic foundation parameter Kw∗ increases, the
Ez decreases as the rotational speed and distance r increase.
total energy of the structure is added by the energy of
And another amazing thing is that Ez is greatly influenced
the elastic foundation due to increase of Kw∗  , therefore,
the stiffness of the structure is enhanced, as a result, the

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(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 12  The dependence of maximum deflection on f14 and L/h 

Table 6  Maximum ∗
f14 L/h
nondimensional deflection of
the S–S beam with different 20 40 80 100 150 200
values of f14
∗
and L/h 
0 0.0823 0.5075 1.8488 2.4105 3.3479 3.8816
1 0.0264 0.0675 0.1436 0.1801 0.2686 0.3541
2 0.0087 0.0188 0.0381 0.0477 0.0715 0.0950
3 0.0041 0.0085 0.0172 0.0214 0.0321 0.0428
4 0.0024 0.0048 0.0097 0.0121 0.0182 0.0242
5 0.0015 0.0031 0.0062 0.0078 0.0116 0.0155
6 0.0011 0.0022 0.0043 0.0054 0.0081 0.0108

by boundary conditions, with boundary conditions C–C and
C-F, the fixed boundary position will have the largest Ez, and
there is also a position where Ez is zero. However, for the
boundary condition SS, the maximum Ez position is far from
the boundary position, when the rotational speed is zero,
the Ez position is the largest in the middle of the beam, but
as the rotation speed increases, the position with the largest
Ez will be deflected to the right of the mid-beam position.
It is explained that since the boundary condition affects the
displacement, it will affect both the strain and the strain gra-
dient at the boundary positions, thus making Ez also varies.

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Table 7  Maximum ∗
f14 L/h
nondimensional deflection of
the C–C beam with different 20 40 80 100 150 200
values of f14
∗
and L/h 
0 0.0175 0.1299 0.7523 1.1775 2.1714 2.8998
1 0.0054 0.0139 0.0299 0.0377 0.0569 0.0758
2 0.0018 0.0038 0.0077 0.0097 0.0145 0.0193
3 0.0008 0.0017 0.0034 0.0043 0.0065 0.0086
4 0.0005 0.0010 0.0019 0.0024 0.0036 0.0049
5 0.0003 0.0006 0.0012 0.0016 0.0023 0.0031
6 0.0002 0.0004 0.0009 0.0011 0.0016 0.0022

Table 8  Maximum ∗
f14 L/h
nondimensional deflection of
the C-F beam with different 20 40 80 100 150 200
values of f14
∗
and L/h 
0 0.6780 2.9811 6.9258 8.2413 10.6076 12.2341
1 0.2389 0.5914 1.2127 1.4972 2.1544 2.7478
2 0.0817 0.1748 0.3521 0.4385 0.6496 0.8543
3 0.0390 0.0805 0.1615 0.2015 0.3005 0.3982
4 0.0225 0.0459 0.0919 0.1148 0.1716 0.2279
5 0.0146 0.0295 0.0591 0.0739 0.1106 0.1471
6 0.0102 0.0206 0.0412 0.0515 0.0771 0.1026

4.2.2 Influence of the value of ­f14 and thickness in Fig. 12 and

( Tables 6, 7 and 8,)the deflection shape of the
103 c h3
of nanobeams beam w ∗∗ w ∗∗= 12q11a40 w(x) is plotted in Fig. 13. Some
0
comments are drawn as follows:
In this subsection, consider a beam with L = 100 nm, r = a,
𝜓0 = 0.001, and 𝛽  = 5. The thickness of the beam h varies in • When increasing the value of f14, the maximum deflec-
a range of L/200 to L/20, ad f14 varies from 0 to 6. For the tion of the beam decreases, this proves that the flexoelec-
convenience of the following investigations, the maximum triceffect has increased the stiffness of the nanobeam,
deflection of the nanobeam is defined as follow: therefore, the working performance of the structure is
103 c11 h30 enhanced.
w∗ = wmax with h0 = L∕100. • As the beam thickness decreases (L/h increases), the
12q0 a4
maximum deflection of the beam increases, and the
The elastic foundation parameters and the rotational effect of flexoelectric becomes more pronounced. The
speed relating to the thickness h0 are defined as follows: numerical results also clearly show that when taking
into account the flexoelectric effect (while L/h = 200), in
comparison with the cases of f14  = 6 and f14  = 0, for the
√
∗ kw L4 ∗ ks L2 c11 h30 2 12𝜌
∗ ∗
Kw = ; Ks = 2 ; Df = ; 𝛽=L Ω C-F beam, the maximum deflection decreases 118 times,
Df 𝜋 Df 12 Eh20
359 times for the S–S beam, and 1318 times for the C–C-
The dependence of the maximum nondimensional deflec- beam. It can be seen that, the C–C- beam is most affected
tion w* on the thickness and the coefficient f14 is presented by the flexoelectric effect.

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(a) (b)

(c)

103 c11 h30

Fig. 13  The deflection shape of the beam depends on f14 and boundary conditions, w ∗∗= 12q0 a4
w(x)

4.2.3 Influence of the imperfect ratio Ã0 and the elastic

Figure 14 shows the distribution of Ez along the length of foundation
the beam depending on the value of f14 ∗
corresponding to dif-
ferent boundary conditions. It is easy to see that as the value Consider a nanobeam with a = b = 100 nm, h = a/100, f14 ∗
 = 1,
of f14
∗
increases, the maximum value of Ez decreases. This Ks∗ = 2, r = a, and 𝛽  = 5. Changing the imperfect ratio 𝜓0 so
is explained because the larger the value of f14 ∗
 , the harder that its value obtains from 0 to 2.10−3, and increasing the
the plate becomes, so the displacement as well as the strain elastic foundation parameter Kw∗ in the range of 0 to 30,
gradient of the beam decrease, thus reducing Ez. For the maximum nondimensional deflections of the beam are pre-
symmetric boundary condition, the case f14 ∗
 = 0 shows the sented in Tables 9 and 10. Some conclusions can be drawn
most distortion of the shape Ez, i.e., Ez is no longer symmet- as follows:
ric about the mid-beam position, this is due to the influence
of the inertial force generated by rotational speed.

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(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 14  The electric field shape of the nanobeam depends on f14 and boundary conditions

Table 9  The maximum Kw∗ 𝜓0

deflection of the S–S beam with
different values of 𝜓0 and Kw∗ 0 2.10−4 5.10−4 1.10−3 15.10−4 2.10−3

0 0.1807 0.1807 0.1806 0.1804 0.1800 0.1795

5 0.1805 0.1805 0.1805 0.1802 0.1799 0.1793
10 0.1804 0.1804 0.1803 0.1801 0.1797 0.1792
15 0.1803 0.1803 0.1802 0.1800 0.1796 0.1791
20 0.1801 0.1801 0.1800 0.1798 0.1795 0.1790
25 0.1800 0.1800 0.1799 0.1797 0.1793 0.1788
30 0.1799 0.1799 0.1798 0.1796 0.1792 0.1787

• For the S–S beam, when the value of the imperfect ratio
is small, the maximum nondimensional deflection does
not change much.
• When the value of the imperfect ratio is increased, the
maximum nondimensional deflection decreases.
• When increasing the value of the elastic foundation
parameter, the maximum deflection of the beam is also
reduced, this is because the stiffness of the beam is
increased.

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering (2021) 43:510 Page 21 of 22  510

Table 10  The maximum Kw∗ 𝜓0

deflection of the C-F beam with
different values of 𝜓0 and Kw∗ 0 2.10−4 5.10−4 1.10−3 15.10−4 2.10−3

0 1.5372 1.5335 1.5267 1.5121 1.4938 1.4721

5 1.5294 1.5258 1.5190 1.5046 1.4865 1.4650
10 1.5218 1.5181 1.5115 1.4972 1.4793 1.4580
15 1.5141 1.5106 1.5040 1.4899 1.4721 1.4510
20 1.5066 1.5031 1.4965 1.4826 1.4650 1.4441
25 1.4992 1.4957 1.4892 1.4754 1.4580 1.4373
30 1.4918 1.4883 1.4819 1.4682 1.4510 1.4305

5 Conclusions Declarations 

This paper employs the finite element method and the novel
third-order shear deformation beam theory to carries out
the free vibration and bending analysis of the nanobeam
rotating around one fixed axis Υ , where the beam is placed
in the two-parameter elastic foundation. Besides, the flexo-
electric effect and the geometrical imperfection are taken
into calculations. The reliability of the proposed theory and
mathematical model used in the paper is verified by com-
paring the results of this work with those of numerous other
methods. A series of numerical results and discussion are
introduced, some novel important investigations are summed
up as follows:
• When taking into account the flexoelectric effect, the
stiffness of the nanobeam increases, therefore, the non-
dimensional frequency of the beam increase, and maxi-
mum deflection decrease, the electric field Ez of the beam
also decreases, in other words, the working performance
of the structure is enhanced. In which, the thinner the
beam is, the more flexoelectric effect presents.
• The rotational speed has a significant influence on the
nondimensional frequency and maximum deflection of
the beam. Vibration mode and deflection shapes of the
beam also changes pronouncedly when the speed of rota-
tion of the beam increases, and the maximum position of
deflection and the electric field Ez will move to the right
position x = L/2 when the rotational speed of the beam is
higher than 0.
• Additionally, increasing the geometrical imperfection
coefficient, the stiffness of the nanobeam increases,
therefore, the nondimensional frequency of the beam
increases, and maximum deflection decreases.
Acknowledgements  NCT gratefully acknowledges the support of Viet-
nam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development
(NAFOSTED) under Grant Number 107.10-2020.100.
Conflict of interest  All authors declare that there is no conflict of inter-
est regarding the publication of this paper.
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