Interaction between two nanoscale elliptical holes with surface tension

In this paper, the plane problem of two elliptical nanoscale holes with surface tension is investigated. Firstly, the basic equations are given via the complex variable methods. Then, the stress boundary condition caused by surface tension is derived through the integral-form Gurtin–Murdoch model. The problem is finally solved by the conformal mapping along with the series expansion methods. The results show that the stress field decreases as the two holes become further away from each other. When the distance between the two holes is more than three times the sum of their sizes, the interaction between the two holes can be neglected. In addition, the stress field is greatly influenced by the orientation, aspect ratio and size of the holes. The positions of the maximum hoop stress are also discussed. When the two elliptical holes are put close horizontally, the hoop stress around one hole usually obtain its maximum at the endpoint close to the other hole. However, if one elliptical hole is not horizontal, the hoop stress around it will no longer attain its maximum at the endpoints. Another exception is that when one elliptical hole becomes larger, the hoop stress around the smaller hole would tend to achieve a local minimum at the endpoint close to the larger hole