A new Bernoulli–Euler beam model incorporating microstructure and surface energy effects

A new Bernoulli–Euler beam model is developed using a modified couple stress theory and a surface elasticity theory. A variational formulation based on the principle of minimum total potential energy is employed, which leads to the simultaneous determination of the equilibrium equation and complete boundary conditions for a Bernoulli–Euler beam. The new model contains a material length scale parameter accounting for the microstructure effect in the bulk of the beam and three surface elasticity constants describing the mechanical behavior of the beam surface layer. The inclusion of these additional material constants enables the new model to capture the microstructure- and surface energy-dependent size effect. In addition, Poisson’s effect is incorporated in the current model, unlike existing beam models. The new beam model includes the models considering only the microstructure dependence or the surface energy effect as special cases. The current model reduces to the classical Bernoulli–Euler beam model when the microstructure dependence, surface energy, and Poisson’s effect are all suppressed. To demonstrate the new model, a cantilever beam problem is solved by directly applying the general formulas derived. Numerical results reveal that the beam deflection predicted by the new model is smaller than that by the classical beam model. Also, it is found that the difference between the deflections predicted by the two models is very significant when the beam thickness is small but is diminishing with the increase of the beam thickness.