A Time-Domain Solution Method for the Vibration Performance of Viscoelastic Functionally Graded Porous Beams

The viscoelastic behavior of functionally graded (FG) materials significantly affects their vibration performance, making it necessary to establish theoretical analysis methods. Although fractional-order methods can be used to set up the vibration differential equations for viscoelastic, functionally graded beams, solving these fractional differential equations typically involves complex iterative processes, which makes the vibration performance analysis of viscoelastic FG materials challenging. To address this issue, this paper proposes a simple method to predict the vibration behavior of viscoelastic FG beams. The fractional viscoelastic, functionally graded porous (FGP) beam is modeled based on the Euler–Bernoulli theory and the Kelvin–Voigt fractional derivative stress-strain relation. Employing the variational principle and the Hamilton principle, the partial fractional differential equation is derived. A method based on Bernstein polynomials is proposed to directly solve fractional vibration differential equations in the time domain, thereby avoiding the complex iterative procedures of traditional methods. The viscoelastic, functionally graded porous beams with four porosity distributions and four boundary conditions are investigated. The effects of the porosity coefficient, pore distribution, boundary conditions, fractional order, and viscoelastic coefficient are analyzed. The results show that this is a feasible method for analyzing the viscoelastic behavior of FGP materials.