Effect of uncertainty in material properties on wave propagation characteristics of nanorod embedded in elastic medium

The effect of uncertainty in material properties on wave propagation characteristics of nanorod embedded in an elastic medium is investigated by developing a nonlocal nanorod model with uncertainties. Considering limited experimental data, uncertain-but-bounded variables are employed to quantify the uncertain material properties in this paper. According to the nonlocal elasticity theory, the governing equations are derived by applying the Hamilton’s principle. An iterative algorithm based interval analysis method is presented to evaluate the lower and upper bounds of the wave dispersion curves. Simultaneously, the presented method is verified by comparing with Monte-Carlo simulation. Furthermore, combined effects of material uncertainties and various parameters such as nonlocal scale, elastic medium and lateral inertia on wave dispersion characteristics of nanorod are studied in detail. Numerical results not only make further understanding of wave propagation characteristics of nanostructures with uncertain material properties, but also provide significant guidance for the reliability and robust design of the next generation of nanodevices.