A modified spatiotemporal nonlocal thermoelasticity theory with higher-order phase delays for a viscoelastic micropolar medium exposed to short-pulse laser excitation

Abstract At the microscale and nanoscale, materials exhibit size-dependent behaviors that classical models cannot capture. This analysis introduces a size-dependent higher-order thermoelastic heat conduction model, incorporating spatial and temporal nonlocal effects in a micropolar visco-thermoelastic medium subjected to laser pulse heat flux. The two-phase delay model, featuring higher-order temporal derivatives, captures the complex interactions among mechanical, thermal, and viscous properties in materials where size effects are significant. By including phase lag, the model effectively addresses non-Fourier heat conduction in short-duration laser pulse scenarios. It accurately predicts temperature distribution, stress response, and microrotation effects in microscale and nanoscale materials. The study visually represents how factors such as micropolarity, higher-order effects, phase delay, nonlocal index, and viscosity influence the size-dependent mechanical behavior of the half-space structure. The numerical results highlight the importance of size-dependent phenomena in nanostructures, revealing deviations from classical predictions due to nonlocal interactions. Overall, the proposed spatiotemporal nonlocal homogenization model serves as a valuable tool for analyzing the complex mechanical and thermal characteristics of nanomaterials.