INVESTIGATION OF SIZE EFFECTS ON STATIC RESPONSE OF SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES BASED ON STRAIN GRADIENT ELASTICITY

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the bending analysis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) based on modified couple stress and strain gradient elasticity theories and Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. The size effect is taken into consideration using the modified couple stress and strain gradient elasticity theories. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived using the variational approach. Deflections of CNT are obtained and presented in graphical form. Results are presented to show the effect of small-scale effect on bending of CNT. It is the first time in the literature, analytical expression and their solutions for the bending analysis based on strain gradient elasticity and couple stress theories are given for CNT under uniformly distributed load and concentrated end load.