A unified approach for nonlinear vibration analysis of curved structures using non-uniform rational B-spline representation

A novel procedure for the nonlinear vibration analysis of curved beam is presented. The Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) is combined with the Euler−Bernoulli beam theory to define the curvature of the structure. The governing equation of motion and the general frequency formula, using the NURBS variables, is applicable for any type of curvatures, is developed. The Galerkin procedure is implemented to obtain the nonlinear ordinary differential equation of curved system and the multiple time scales method is utilized to find the corresponding frequency responses. As a case study, the nonlinear vibration of carbon nanotubes with different shapes of curvature is investigated. The effect of oscillation amplitude and the waviness on the natural frequency of the curved nanotube is evaluated and the primary resonance case of system with respect to the variations of different parameters is discussed. For the sake of comparison of the results obtained with those from the molecular dynamic simulation, the natural frequencies evaluated from the proposed approach are compared with those reported in literature for few types of carbon nanotube simulation.