Bending and Buckling Responses of FGM Nanoplates Embedded in an Elastic Medium

Abstract

This research is devoted to the study of the flexural response and buckling analysis (thermal and mechanical) of functionally graded (FG) nanoscale plates integrated in an elastic medium. The structure is modeled on the basis of a refined integral plate theory with four unknowns incorporated into Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory. The material properties of the plate are considered to be graded continuously over the entire thickness of the nanoplate. The elastic medium is simulated like Pasternak’s two-parameter elastic foundations. The equilibrium equations are determined from the principle of virtual displacements. The results for simply supported FG nanoscale plates are deduced and compared with those available in the literature. Parametric studies are carried out to demonstrate the impacts of the inhomogeneity parameter, nonlocal parameter, elastic medium stiffness, and plate geometric ratios on the behavior of FG nanoscale plates.