Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 November 2012
In the present study, an enriched continuum mechanics framework is employed to study thesurface effects on bending behavior of silver nanowires (NWs) resting on elasticsubstrate. The Timoshenko beam theory and the Laplace-Young equation are employed toinvestigate static behavior of silver NWs lying on Winkler-Pasternak elastic substrate.Three types of boundary conditions are considered as doubly simply supported (S-S), doublyclamped (C-C) and cantilevered (C-F). Analytical solutions are obtained for NWs withsurface crystallographic orientation of [001] subjected to a concentrated external force.By defining different normalized contact stiffness, extensive numerical results arecarried out to study the influence of effective parameters such as substrate, surface,aspect ratio (L/D) and diameter onthe stiffness of NWs. According to the obtained results, the effect of surface and itsrate of variation on stiffness of NWs lying on Winkler and Winkler-Pasternak elasticfoundation models are more significant in (C-F) type of boundary condition compared to theNWs without foundation. By increasing the modulus of elastic substrate, the effect ofshear deformation increases which it is more considerable in (C-C) and (S-S) NWs restingon the Winkler-Pasternak and Winkler substrate models, respectively.