The functional variable method is a powerful solution method for obtaining exact solutions of some nonlinear partial differential equations. In this paper, the functional variable method is used to establish exact solutions of the generalized forms of Klein–Gordon equation, the $(2 + 1)$-dimensional Camassa–Holm Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation and the higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation. By using this useful method, we found some exact solutions of the above-mentioned equations. The obtained solutions include solitary wave solutions, periodic wave solutions and combined formal solutions. It is shown that the proposed method is effective and general.

Studying compactons, solitons, solitary patterns and periodic solutions is important in nonlinear phenomena. In this paper we study nonlinear variants of the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (KP) and the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equations with positive and negative exponents. The functional variable method is used to establish compactons, solitons, solitary patterns and periodic solutions for these variants. This method is a powerful tool for searching exact travelling solutions in closed form.

This paper studies a couple of fractional nonlinear evolution equations using first integral method. These evolution equations are foam drainage equation and Klein–Gordon equation (KGE), the latter of which is considered in (2 + 1) dimensions. For the fractional evolution, the Jumarie’s modified Riemann–Liouville derivative is considered. Exact solutions to these equations are obtained.

In this paper, we construct the topological or dark solitons of Hirota equation by using the first integral method. This approach provides first integrals in polynomial form with a high accuracy for two-dimensional plane autonomous systems. Exact soliton solution is constructed through the established first integrals. This method is a powerful tool for searching exact travelling solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations (NPDEs) in mathematical physics.

This paper presents the exact solutions for the fractional Korteweg–de Vries equations and the coupled Korteweg–de Vries equations with time-fractional derivatives using the functional variable method. The fractional derivatives are described in the modified Riemann–Liouville derivative sense. It is demonstrated that the calculations involved in the functional variable method are extremely simple and straightforward and this method is very effective for handling nonlinear fractional equations.

In this paper, we have presented the applicability of the first integral method for constructing exact solutions of (2+1)-dimensional Jaulent–Miodek equations. The first integral method is a powerful and effective method for solving nonlinear partial differential equations which can be applied to nonintegrable as well as integrable equations. The present paper confirms the significant features of the method employed and exact kink and soliton solutions are constructed through the established first integrals.

In this paper, one of the newest analytical methods, new homotopy perturbation method (NHPM), is considered to solve thermoelasticity equations. Results obtained by NHPM, which does not need small parameters, are compared with the numerical results and a very good agreement is found. This method provides a convenient way to control the convergence of approximation series and adjust convergence regions when necessary. The results reveal that the proposed method is explicit, effective and easy to use.