Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

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Applied Mathematical Modelling

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apm

Short communication

Wave propagation in single-walled carbon nanotube under longitudinal

magnetic eld using nonlocal EulerBernoulli beam theory
S. Narendar a,, S.S. Gupta b, S. Gopalakrishnan c
a

Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058, India

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India
c
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 9 March 2011
Received in revised form 17 November 2011
Accepted 27 November 2011
Available online 8 December 2011
Keywords:
Carbon nanotube
Nonlocal elasticity
Magnetic eld
Wave velocity
Pasternak foundation
Lorentz force

a b s t r a c t
In the present work, the effect of longitudinal magnetic eld on wave dispersion characteristics of equivalent continuum structure (ECS) of single-walled carbon nanotubes
(SWCNT) embedded in elastic medium is studied. The ECS is modelled as an Euler
Bernoulli beam. The chemical bonds between a SWCNT and the elastic medium are
assumed to be formed. The elastic matrix is described by Pasternak foundation model,
which accounts for both normal pressure and the transverse shear deformation. The
governing equations of motion for the ECS of SWCNT under a longitudinal magnetic eld
are derived by considering the Lorentz magnetic force obtained from Maxwells relations
within the frame work of nonlocal elasticity theory. The wave propagation analysis is
performed using spectral analysis. The results obtained show that the velocity of exural
waves in SWCNTs increases with the increase of longitudinal magnetic eld exerted on it
in the frequency range; 020 THz. The present analysis also shows that the exural wave
dispersion in the ECS of SWCNT obtained by local and nonlocal elasticity theories differ. It
is found that the nonlocality reduces the wave velocity irrespective of the presence of the
magnetic eld and does not inuences it in the higher frequency region. Further it is found
that the presence of elastic matrix introduces the frequency band gap in exural wave
mode. The band gap in the exural wave is found to independent of strength of the
longitudinal magnetic eld.
2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), discovered by Iijima [1] have wide range of applications in atomic force microscopes, eld
emitters, frictionless nano-actuators, gas sensors, components of nanoelectromechanical systems, llers for composite
materials, and nano-scale electronic devices. Technologically successful application of CNTs is possible only when their
physical properties are well understood. Usually, physical characteristics of carbon nanotubes are studied by conducting
experiments [210]. An alternative to experiments is to model a particular CNT of interest with or without its surrounding using appropriate physical laws depending on requirements. In the literature typically two types of modelling
methods are discussed; (i) atomistic modelling (molecular mechanics/dynamics and ab initio) [1133] and (ii) classical
continuum mechanics [3043]. Though classical continuum based models are efcient compared to atomistic models,

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 88976 25977/99493 91823; fax: +91 40 24342309.
E-mail addresses: nanduslns07@gmail.com, snarendar@aero.iisc.ernet.in (S. Narendar), ssgupta@iitk.ac.in (S.S. Gupta), krishnan@aero.iisc.ernet.in
(S. Gopalakrishnan).
0307-904X/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apm.2011.11.073

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S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

in some instances they fail to predict some modes of deformation of SWCNT which otherwise are found in molecular
mechanics calculations [32]. Further, the classical continuum theory can not predict the optical phonons and the true
dispersion relation in CNTs [44]. It is shown in [44] that a dynamic equivalence between the crystal lattices and their
continuum analogue is possible through nonlocal continuum theories. On the other hand, large scale atomistic simulations are computationally expensive. Very recently, various research groups have started applying nonlocal continuum
theory of Eringen [45] to model CNTs to characterize them more accurately [44]. The nonlocal elasticity theory [45] is
capable of accounting for long range inter-atomic interactions in the form of a small scale size dependent parameter
which leads to appropriate modication in the constitutive material model of an equivalent continuum structure (ECS)
of CNTs.
Here, we briey review the literature pertaining to application of nonlocal elasticity theory to characterize dynamics of
CNTs. Wang [46] has studied the wave propagation in a SWCNT considering its ECS to be derived from nonlocal elasticity
based EulerBernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories. Formulae for the asymptotic wave velocity and phase velocity for
both the theories are derived as function of elastic, geometric properties and nonlocal parameters. The small scale effect
was found to be dominant at lower wavelength and smaller diameters in the numerical simulations. Zhang et al. [47] have
studied vibrations of doubled-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) using double-beam model based on nonlocal elasticity
theory. The van der Waals interaction between nested SWCNTs was modelled using linear springs. They derived the expressions for frequency and modeshapes explicitly and studied the effect of nonlocality on aspect ratio of the double-beam
model. Lu et al. [48] analyzed dynamic properties of EulerBernoulli beam using a nonlocal elasticity model. They studied
the effect of the value of size dependent small scale parameter and various boundary conditions on frequency and modes of
beams. Wang and Varadan [49] have developed the nonlocal Flugge shell theory of study the wave dispersion in SWCNTs.
They computed the cut-off frequencies by assuming the values of material and geometrical parameters for their nonlocal
shell model to be equal to those for a SWCNT. They found that the cut-off frequency reduces noticeably with increase
in the value of the small scale parameter and is sensitive to the diameter of SWCNT. In addition from the expression of
asymptotic phase velocity they found that the value of the small scale parameter is radius dependent and <2.2 nm for
frequencies >10 THz. From the wave dispersion relation it was found that the phase velocity reduces with the increase in
the circumferential wave number and the nonlocal parameter. Hu et al. [50] have developed nonlocal Flugge shell theory
to study wave propagation characteristics of (10, 10)@(15, 15) DWCNT. They extended the work of Wang and Varadan
[49] and incorporated van der Waals springs between nested shells. Instead of assuming the value of nonlocal parameter
they estimated it by matching the dispersions transverse waves of (15, 15) and (20, 0) SWCNTs, and (10, 10)@(15, 15)
DWCNT found from molecular dynamic simulations with the numerical results obtained from the nonlocal shell model.
However, its value was found to be different for higher wave number when dispersions for torsional waves were studied.
They attributed the difference in the values of small scale parameter from two different analyses to chirality, diameter and
interlayer separation of nanotubes. Pradhan and Murmu [51] have used nonlocal Timoshenko beam model to study vibration of CNTs embedded in elastic medium. The elastic medium was formulated using both Winker- and Pasternak-type
foundations. They concluded that the foundation stiffness and the value of nonlocal parameter affect the frequency of
SWCNT. The frequency increases non-linearly and linearly with increasing stiffness of Winker- and Pasternak-type foundations, respectively. Recently, our group has applied the nonlocal elasticity theory to study wave dispersion behaviour and
uidstructure interactions in CNTs using beam models [5256]. The growing interest in terahertz physics of nanoscale
materials and devices has drawn more attention to CNTs phonon dispersion relation, especially in the terahertz frequency
range. In recent years, the micro-wave absorbing effect and electromagnetic characteristics of CNTs has also attracted
considerable interest [57,58]. Wang et al. [59] studied the effect of magnetic eld on wave propagation in CNTs embedded
in elastic matrix. In some applications of nanoengineering, the investigation on dynamic characteristic of CNTs under
magnetic eld is useful. Slepyan and Maksimenko [60] studied the electromagnetic wave propagation in CNTs. They
reported the discrete relation of wave propagation in CNTs by using molecular dynamics theories. Li and Wang [61] studied
the different wave modes coupled in longitudinal or transverse magnetic eld. More recently, Narendar et al. [62] have
studied the vibrations of nonlocal Flugge shell model for SWCNTs under the longitudinal magnetic eld based on wave
propagation approach. This work covers vibration modes in axial, circumferential and radial directions. Their analysis shows
that the vibration frequencies of SWCNTs drops dramatically in the presence of the magnetic eld for various circumferential wave numbers. Such effect is also observed for various boundary conditions of the SWCNT. To the best of authors
knowledge the effect of magnetic eld on wave propagation in embedded SWCNTs using nonlocal beam theory is studied
sparsely in the open literature.
This paper presents the effect of longitudinal magnetic eld on wave propagation in SWCNTs based on nonlocal Euler
Bernoulli beam theory. The SWCNT is assumed to be embedded in Pasternak type of elastic medium. Wave propagation
equations in SWCNTs are derived by considering the Lorentz magnetic forces applied on CNTs induced by a longitudinal
magnetic eld through Maxwell equations. The wave characteristic curves of SWCNTs under a longitudinal magnetic eld
are obtained by solving the governing equation of motion. Combined effects of longitudinal magnetic eld and the elastic
matrix on wave propagation in SWCNTs are discussed.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows; in Section 2, a brief introduction to nonlocal theory and details of mathematical modelling of the problem in hand are mentioned. The governing equations obtained in Section 2 are solved using
wave propagation approach in Section 3. In Section 4 results are discussed and in Section 5 conclusions of the research
are drawn.

S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

4531

2. Mathematical modelling and formulations

2.1. A review of the theory of nonlocal elasticity
Nonlocal elastic theory assumes that the stress state at a reference point r in the body is regarded to be dependent not only
on the strain state at r but also on the strain states at all other points r0 of the body. The most general form of the constitutive
relation in the nonlocal elasticity type representation involves an integral over the entire region of interest. The integral contains a nonlocal kernel function, which describes the relative inuences of the strains at various locations on the stress at a given
location. The constitutive equations of linear, homogeneous, isotropic, non-local elastic solid with body forces are given by [45].

rij;i qfj  uj 0;
rij r

ajr  r j; nr

1
c 0
ij r d

Xr ;

rcij r0 C ijkl ekl r0 ;

eij r0

2
3

1 @ui r @uj r
:

2
@r0j
@r 0i

Eq. (1) is the equilibrium equation, where rij, q, fj and uj are the stress tensor, mass density, body force density and displacement vector at a reference point r in the body, respectively, at time t. Eq. (3) is the classical constitutive relation where rcij r0
is the classical stress tensor at any point r0 in the body, which is related to the linear strain tensor ekl(x0 ) at the same point. Eq.
(4) is the classical straindisplacement relationship. The only difference between Eqs. (1)(4) and the corresponding equations of classical elasticity is the introduction of Eq. (2), which relates the global (or nonlocal) stress tensor rij to the classical
stress tensor rcij r0 using the modulus of nonlocalness. The modulus of nonlocalness or the nonlocal modulus a(jr  r0 j, n) is
the kernel of the integral Eq. (2) and contains parameters which correspond to the nonlocalness [45]. Making certain
assumptions [45], the integro-partial differential equations of nonlocal elasticity can be simplied to partial differential
equations. For example, Eq. (2) takes the following simple form:

1  n2 2 r2 rij x rcij x C ijkl ekl x;

where Cijkl is the elastic modulus tensor of classical isotropic elasticity and eij is the strain tensor. where r2 denotes the second order spatial gradient applied on the stress tensor rij and n = e0a/. As dened by Eringen [45], e0 is a constant appropriate to each material. Eringen proposed e0 = 0.39 by the matching of the dispersion curves via nonlocal theory for plane
wave and Born-Karman model of lattice dynamics at the end of the Brillouin zone (ka = p), where a is the distance between
atoms and k is the wavenumber in the phonon analysis.
2.2. Maxwells relations
Let the current density (J), strength vectors of electric eld (e), disturbing vectors of magnetic eld (h), the vector of displacement (U), then, the Maxwell equations [63] are given by

J r  h;

@h
r  e g ;
@t
r  h 0;


@U
H ;
e g
@t

7
8
9

h r  U  H;

10
@ ^
@ ^
@ ^
i @y
j @z
k
@x

and g is the magnetic permeability. For simplifying the analwhere the Hamilton arithmetic operator is r
ysis, apply a longitudinal magnetic eld vector H = (Hx, 0, 0) exerted on the carbon nanotube. Let the displacement vector
U = (u, v, w), then



@ v @w ^
@v ^
@w ^
k;
j Hx
i Hx

@x
@y @z
@x
!
!
!
@2v
@2w ^
@2v
@2w @2w ^
@2v @2v @2w ^
i  Hx
k:

2 j Hx

@z
@x@z @x@y
@y@z @x2
@x2 @y2 @y@z

h r  U  H Hx

11

J r  h Hx

12

The Lorentz force (f) induced by the longitudinal magnetic eld is

!
"
! #
2
2
@2v @2w ^
@2w @2v ^
2 @ v
2 @ w
^
^
^
^
j Hx
k :
f fx i fy j fz k gJ  H g 0i Hx

2
@x2
@y
@x2 @y2 @y@z
@y@z

13

4532

S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

Therefore Lorentz force along the x, y and z directions are

fx 0
fy gH2x
fz gH2x

!
@2v @2v @2w

;
@x2 @y2 @y@z
!
@2w @2w @2v
:
2
@x2
@y
@y@z

14
15
16

For the present wave propagation analysis in SWCNT, we assume that w = w(x, t) only, so that the Lorentz force in z-direction
is written as

fz gH2x

@2w
:
@x2

17

Here fz denotes the body force.

2.3. Pasternak foundation model
In the present work, ultrasonic wave dispersion characteristics of single-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in elastic
medium are presented. The chemical bonds are assumed to be formed between the carbon nanotube and the elastic medium
(see Fig. 1). The elastic matrix is described by a Pasternak foundation model, which accounts for both normal pressure and
the transverse shear deformation of the surrounding elastic medium. When the shear effects are neglected, the model reduces to Winkler foundation model. The normal pressure or Winkler elastic foundation parameter is approximated as a series of closely spaced, mutually independent, vertical linear elastic springs where the foundation modulus is assumed
equivalent to stiffness of the springs. The normal pressure and the incompressible layer that resists transverse shear deformation by Pasternak foundation model is expressed as

px K W w K S

@2w
;
@x2

18

where the rst parameter KW is the Winkler foundation modulus, the second parameter KS is the stiffness of the shearing
layer. The values of KW and KS are per unit area.
2.4. Nonlocal governing differential equation of motion for equivalent continuum structure of embedded SWCNT
A slender SWCNT can be modelled as an EulerBernoulli beam theory. Considering the elementary EulerBernoulli theory
of beams, the axial and transverse displacement elds can be represented as

@w
;
@x
wx; y; z; t wx; t;

ux; y; z; t u0  z

19
20

where w is transverse displacement of a point (x, 0) on the middle plane (i.e., z = 0) of the beam. The only nonzero strain of
the EulerBernoulli beam theory is

Fig. 1. Schematic of single-walled carbon nanotube embedded in Pasternak type elastic medium (consists of both shear layer with stiffness KS and Winkler
layer with stiffness KW) under the longitudinal magnetic eld. Here CP is the velocity of the propagating wave.

S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

exx

@u @u0
@2w

z 2 :
@x
@x
@x

4533

21

The equations of motion of the EulerBernoulli beam theory are given by

@Q
@ 2 u0
 qA 2 0;
@x
@t
@2M
@2w
 qA 2 f x  px 0;
@x2
@t

22
23

where

rxx dA; M

zrxx dA

24

and p(x) is force exerted by the elastic matrix per unit area (see Fig. 2), rxx is the axial stress on the yz-section in the direction
of x, Q is the axial force, M is the bending moment and f(x) is a function of space to incorporate the longitudinal magnetic
force, q is the mass density and A is the beam cross section area.
Using Eq. (5), we can express stress resultants of EulerBernoulli beam theory in terms of the strains. As opposed to the
linear algebraic equations between the stress resultants and strains in a local theory, the nonlocal constitutive relations lead
to differential relations involving the stress resultants and the strains. In the following, we present these relations for beams
made of homogeneous, linear elastic and isotropic material. The nonlocal constitutive relation in Eq. (5) takes the following
form for beams:

rxx  e0 a2

@ 2 rxx
Eexx ;
@x2

25

where E is the Youngs modulus of the beam material. Using Eqs. (24) and (25), we have

@2Q
@u
EA ;
@x2
@x
2
@
M
M  e0 a2 2 EIje ;
@x

Q  e0 a2

26
27

where I A z2 dA is the moment of inertia of the beam cross section and je  @@xw2 is the curvature of the beam.
With the help of the nonlocal constitutive relations and the equations of motion presented, the moment can be expressed
in terms of the generalized displacement as, by substituting Eq. (27) into Eq. (23), we get

"
#
@2w
@2w
2
M EI 2 e0 a qA 2  f x px :
@x
@t

28

Substituting M from Eq. (28) into Eq. (23), we obtain the equation of motion of nonlocal EulerBernoulli beams as

EI

"
#
2
@4w
@2w
@2w
2 @

e
a
q
A

f
x

px
f x  px  qA 2 0:
0
2
4
2
@x
@x
@t
@t

29

The present problem assumes a longitudinal magnetic eld in SWCNT. Here f(x) fz, since fz is a body force and f(x) denotes
the force per length. So, f(x) can be written as

Z, w

Fig. 2. The coordinate system on single walled carbon nanotube: Discrete model of (10, 10) armchair single walled carbon nanotube of 8.147 nm length and
consisting of 1340 carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal fashion, showing thickness h and radius R.

4534

S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

f x fz  A gAH2x

@2w
:
@x2

30

This allows us to represent the Eq. (29) as a constant coefcient nonlocal partial differential equation. Finally, the nonlocal
governing differential equation for transverse displacement (w(x, t)) of a beam is derived as

EI

@4w
@2w
@4w
@2w
@2w
@4w
@2w
 gAH2x 2 gAH2x e0 a2 4 K W w  K S 2  K W e0 a2 2 K S e0 a2 4 qA 2  qAe0 a2
4
@x
@x
@x
@x
@x
@x
@t
@4w
 2 2 0:
@t @x

3. Ultrasonic wave dispersion characteristics of SWCNTs embedded in elastic medium under the inuence of
longitudinal magnetic eld
Ultrasonic wave characteristics of CNTs has been a topic of great interest in nanomechanics, where the equivalent continuum models are widely used [4656]. In this section ultrasonic wave propagation analysis is performed using spectral
analysis.
3.1. Computation of wave speeds and cut-off frequency
Eq. (31) can be transformed in frequency domain using Fourier transformation [64],

wx; t

N
X

ixn t
^
;
wxe

32

n1

^ is the amplitude of the wave motion, xn the circular frequency of the nth sampling point and N is the Nyquist frewhere w
quency. The sampling rate and the number of sampling points should be sufciently large to have relatively good resolution
of both high and low frequencies respectively. Substitution of Eq. (32) into Eq. (31), we get
N
X
n1

"
EI

4
^
d w
4

dx

2
^
d w

 gAH2x

dx

gAH2x e0 a2

4
^
d w
4

dx

^  KS
KW w

2
^
d w
2

dx
#
4
2
^
^
d w
d w
^ qAe0 a2 x2n 2 eixn t 0:
K S e0 a2 4  qAx2n w
dx
dx

 K W e0 a2

2
^
d w
2

dx

33

This equation must be satised for each n and hence can be written as the ordinary differential equation (ODE) in single variable x as

EI

4
^
d w
4

dx

 gAH2x

2
^
d w
2

gAH2x e0 a2

dx
2
^
2d w

qAe0 a2 x

dx

4
^
d w
4

dx

^  KS
KW w

2
^
d w
2

dx

 K W e0 a2

2
^
d w
2

dx

K S e0 a2

4
^
d w
4

dx

^
 qAx2 w

0;

34

^
~ ikn x into Eq. (34) yields
Substituting wx
we

h
i
4
2
4
2
2
4
2
~ 0:
EIkn gAH2x kn gAH2x e0 a2 kn K W K S kn K W e0 a2 kn K S e0 a2 kn  qAx2  qAx2 e0 a2 kn w

35

where k is the wavenumber, and x is the frequency of the wave motion.

~ this implies that
For non-trivial solution of the wave amplitude w,

h
i
h
i
4
2
EI gAH2x e0 a2 K S e0 a2 kn gAH2x K S K W e0 a2  qAx2 e0 a2 kn K W  qAx2 0;

36

this is the dispersion or characteristic equation for the an equivalent continuum structure (ECS) of an embedded SWCNT. The
wavenumbers are obtained by solving the characteristic Eq. (36) as

v
s
u
 2
u 1a
1 a2
a0
t
2
kn  

 ;
2 a4
4 a4
a4

37

where a4 EI gAH2x e0 a2 K S e0 a2 ; a2 gAH2x K S K W e0 a2  qAx2 e0 a2 and a0 = KW  qAx2. These wavenumbers

are function of the nonlocal scaling parameter, wave frequency, longitudinal magnetic eld strength, stiffness of elastic medium and other material parameters of the beam. Out of these four wavenumbers two are real and the other two are imaginary. The real and imaginary parts corresponds to propagating and spatially damped modes, respectively. From Eq. (37) if
KW = 0, there is no possibility for a cut off frequency, above which the spatially damped mode turns to be propagative. The

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S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

above relation (Eq. (37)) between the wavenumber k and frequency x is called the spectrum relation and for a beam, it is a
nonlinear function of frequency. This curve will explain the nature of the waves. From Eq. (36) by equating the constant term
to zero or substituting k = 0, we can get that the cut-off frequency xc as

xc

s
KW
:
qA

38

The exural wave cut-off frequency is a function of Winkler foundation parameter KW and the geometrical properties of the
CNT. It is also independent of the strength of the magnetic eld.
The wave speed or phase speed is dened as

 
xn
:
C p Re
kn

39

It is different for different xn. In addition, it should be noted that the phase speed is dened with respect to real kn, since the
real part represents the propagative component of the wave. As a result, the speeds change with frequencies, which makes

140

120

120

100

100

Wave velocity [Km/s]

Wave velocity [Km/s]

a 140

80

60

40

80

60

40

H = 0 A/m

H = 0 A/m
x

H = 2 A/m

Hx = 2 A/m

Hx = 5 A/m

H = 5 A/m

20
e a = 0 nm
0

e a = 1.0 nm

20

Hx = 7 A/m

H = 7 A/m

H = 10 A/m

H = 10 A/m

x
x

10

12

14

16

18

20

Frequency [THz]

10

12

14

16

18

20

Frequency [THz]

140

120
Hx = 0 A/m
Hx = 2 A/m

Wave velocity [Km/s]

100

Hx = 5 A/m
Hx = 7 A/m
H = 10 A/m
x

80

60

40

20
e a = 2.0 nm
0

10

12

14

16

18

20

Frequency [THz]

Fig. 3. Wave speed dispersion with wave frequency in a single walled carbon nanotube under the inuence of longitudinal magnetic eld effect obtained
from (a) local/classical elasticity (e0a = 0 nm), (b) nonlocal elasticity (e0a = 1.0 nm) and (c) nonlocal elasticity (e0a = 2.0 nm). In this simulations the elastic
matrix is not considered i.e., KW = 0 and KS = 0.

4536

S. Narendar et al. / Applied Mathematical Modelling 36 (2012) 45294538

the wave highly dispersive. From this expression one plot a graph between wave velocity and wave frequency. This graph
gives full description of the wave propagation in nanostructures.
4. Numerical experiments, results and discussions
Based on the formulations obtained above with the nonlocal EulerBernoulli beam model, the wave dispersion characteristics of embedded SWCNT under the inuence of the longitudinal magnetic eld are investigated and discussed here.
The discrete model the SWCNT with the coordinate system is shown in Fig. 2. In example calculations, the effective radius
of SWCNT re = 3.5 nm the wall thickness of SWCNT h = 0.34 nm (Eh = 360 J/m2), and the mass density of SWCNT, q = 2300 kg/
m3, are assumed. The properties of the elastic matrix such as Winkler modulus KW = 1.13  1018 Pa and polymer matrix shear
modulus KS = 1.13 Pa/m are taken from Ref. [51].
The wave speed variation with frequency for the SWCNT under longitudinal magnetic eld without elastic matrix, obtained from both local and nonlocal theories is shown in Fig. 3. The local elasticity calculation shows that the wave speed
dispersion is nonlinear with frequency at higher frequencies. The nonlocal elasticity calculation shows that, the wave speeds
are almost constant at higher frequencies as shown in Figs. 3(b) and (c). Also wave speeds obtained from the nonlocal elasticity are small as compared to those obtained from the local elasticity calculations. The applied longitudinal magnetic eld
changes the dynamic characteristic of wave propagation in SWCNT at lower and higher frequency regions (see Fig. 3). Such
changes are captured in both local and nonlocal elasticity calculations. Over the frequency region studied here, the wave

90
80

90
80

Wave velocity [Km/s]

Wave velocity [Km/s]

70
60
50
40
Without Pasternak foundation
With Pasternak foundation

30

70
60
Without Pasternak foundation
With Pasternak foundation

50
40

20

e0a = 0 nm
Hx = 0 A/m

10
0

100

10
Frequency [THz]

15

H = 2.0 A/m

30

Cutoff frequency
0

e a = 0 nm

20

20

Cutoff frequency
0

10
15
Frequency [THz]

20

25

Fig. 4. Wave speed dispersion with wave frequency in a single walled carbon nanotube embedded in Pasternak type elastic medium obtained form local or
classical elasticity (e0a = 0 nm) for the longitudinal magnetic eld strengths of (a) Hx = 0 A/m and (b) Hx = 2.0 A/m.

a 40

Without Pasternak foundation

With Pasternak foundation

35

Without Pasternak foundation

With Pasternak foundation

70
60

Wave velocity [Km/s]

30

Wave velocity [Km/s]

80

25
20
15

e0a = 2.0 nm
H = 0 A/m
x

10

50
40
30
20

e0a = 2.0 nm
H = 2.0 A/m
x

10

Cutoff frequency

Cutoff frequency
0

10
Frequency [THz]

15

20

10
Frequency [THz]

15

20

Fig. 5. Wave speed dispersion with wave frequency in a single walled carbon nanotube embedded in Pasternak type elastic medium obtained form nonlocal
elasticity (e0a = 2.0 nm) for the longitudinal magnetic eld strengths of (a) Hx = 0 A/m and (b) Hx = 2.0 A/m.

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4537

velocity increase with an increase in longitudinal magnetic eld strength. But, the longitudinal magnetic eld has little inuence on wave velocity when its magnitude is very small (<2.0 A/m) over the entire frequency range. With the increase in the
nonlocal parameter the wave velocity is found to be decreasing as shown in Fig. 3. For e0a = 2.0 nm, the magnitude of wave
velocity is almost constant for all wave frequencies at higher magnetic led strength (Fig. 3(c)). It means that the application
of magnetic eld makes the SWCNT stiffer.
For two values of Hx; 0 and 2 A/m, the effect of the elastic medium (Pasternak foundation) is shown in Fig. 4 for e0a = 0.
The effect of elastic matrix shows that the wave will have a cut-off frequency (see Figs. 4(a) and (b)). In the presence of the
elastic medium, the exural wave modes are having a frequency band gap region. Within this frequency band gap the corresponding wavenumbers are imaginary. Thus, the exural modes are attenuated at frequencies lying within this band. So,
these wavenumbers have a substantial imaginary part along with the real part, thus these waves attenuate as they propagate. It is found that the presence of the magnetic led will not alter the frequency band gap, however, it will change the
shape and magnitude of the wave dispersion curve as shown in Fig. 4(b). For Hx = 0, the dispersion relation is non-linear
where as it is almost linear for Hx = 2 A/m. The effect of the elastic medium for e0a = 2.0 nm is shown in Fig. 5 with and without the presence of the longitudinal magnetic eld. The presence of magnetic eld, the wave dispersion relations is almost
constant for higher frequencies. The band gap region is also not affected by the non-locality (see Figs. 5(a) and (b)). The cutoff frequency is found to be inversely proportional to the radius of ECS of the SWCNT. So, the cut-off frequency decreases, as
the radius of CNT increases. In accordance with Eq. (38), the cut-off frequency increases with the stiffness of the Winker
foundation parameter.
The results presented in this work are new and can provide useful guidance for the study and design of the next generation of nanodevices such as nano-electro-magneto-mechanical systems (NEMMS) that make use of the wave propagation
properties of embedded SWCNTs.
5. Conclusions
In the present paper, the effect of longitudinal magnetic eld on ultrasonic or terahertz wave dispersion characteristics of
an equivalent continuum structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in elastic medium is studied. Nonlocal governing equation of motion for an ECS of SWCNT under a longitudinal magnetic eld is derived by considering the Lorentz
magnetic force obtained from Maxwells relations. The results show that the velocity of exural waves in SWCNTs increases
with the increase in the strength of the longitudinal magnetic eld for all frequency band studied in this paper. The effect of
the magnetic eld strength, elastic matrix stiffness and nonlocal parameter on the ultrasonic wave dispersion properties of
SWCNT are also investigated. The results presented in this work can provide useful guidance for the study and design of the
next generation of nanodevices such as nano-oscillators, micro-wave absorbing, nano-electron technology and nanoelectromagnetomechanical systems (NEMMS) that make use of the wave propagation properties of single-walled carbon
nanotubes embedded in elastic medium.
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