Vibration and length-dependent flexural rigidity of protein microtubules using higher order shear deformation theory.

Microtubules are hollow cylindrical filaments of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton characterized by extremely low shear modulus. A remarkable controversy has occurred in the literature, regarding the length dependence of flexural rigidity of microtubules predicted by the classical elastic beam model. In this study, a higher order shear deformable beam model for microtubules is employed to study unexplained length-dependent flexural rigidity and Young's modulus of microtubules reported in the literature.

Comment on 'Vibration analysis of fluid-conveying double-walled carbon nanotubes based on nonlocal elastic theory'.

Most recently, Lee and Chang (2009 J. Phys.: Condens.