Effects of Elastic Restraints on the Fundamental
Frequency of Nonlocal Nanobeams with Tip Mass
The fundamental frequencies of an elastically restrained nanobeam with a tip mass are studied based on the nonlocal Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The nanobeam has a torsional spring at one end and a translational spring at the other end where a tip mass is attached. The aim is to model a tapping mode atomic force microscope (TM-AFM), which can be utilized in imaging and the manufacture of Nano-scale structures. A TM-AFM uses high frequency oscillations to remove material, shape structures or scan the topology of a Nano-scale structure. The nonlocal theory is effective at modelling Nano-scale structures, as it takes small scale effects into account. Torsional elastic restraints can model clamped and pinned boundary conditions, as their stiffness values change between zero and infinity. The effects of the stiffness of the elastic restraints, tip mass and the small-scale parameter on the fundamental frequency are investigated numerically.