Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive size-dependent piezoelectric thermo-viscoelastic coupling model that accounts for two fundamentally distinct size-dependent models that govern fractional dual-phase lag heat transfer and viscoelastic deformation, respectively. Design/methodology/approach The fractional calculus has recently been shown to capture precisely the experimental effects of viscoelastic materials. The governing equations are combined into a unified system, from which certain theorems results on linear coupled and generalized theories of thermo-viscoelasticity may be easily established. Laplace transforms and state-space approach will be used to determine the generic solution when any set of boundary conditions exists. The derived formulation is used to two concrete different problems for a piezoelectric rod. The numerical technique for inverting the transfer functions is used to generate observable numerical results. Findings Some analogies of impacts of nonlocal thermal conduction, nonlocal elasticity and DPL parameters as well as fractional order on thermal spreads and thermo-viscoelastic response are illustrated in the figures. Originality/value The results in all figures indicate that the nonlocal thermal and viscoelastic parameters have a considerable influence on all field values. This discovery might help with the design and analysis of thermal-mechanical aspects of nanoscale devices.