Isogeometric analysis of Mindlin nanoplates based on the integral formulation of nonlocal elasticity

Abstract

Purpose

It has been revealed that application of the differential form of Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory to some cases (e.g. cantilevers) leads to paradoxical results, and recourse must be made to the integral version of Eringen’s nonlocal model. The purpose of this paper, within the framework of integral form of Eringen’s nonlocal theory, is to study the bending behavior of nanoscale plates with various boundary conditions using the isogeometric analysis (IGA).

Design/methodology/approach

The shear deformation effect is taken into account according to the Mindlin plate theory, and the minimum total potential energy principle is utilized in order to derive the governing equations. The relations are obtained in the matrix-vector form which can be easily employed in IGA or finite element analysis. For the comparison purpose, the governing equations are also derived based on the differential nonlocal model and are then solved via IGA. Comparisons are made between the predictions of integral nonlocal model, differential nonlocal model and local (classical) model.

Findings

The bending analysis of nanoplates under some kinds of edge supports indicates that using the differential model leads to paradoxical results (decreasing the maximum deflection with increasing the nonlocal parameter), whereas the results of integral model are consistent.

Originality/value

A new nonlocal formulation is developed for the IGA of Mindlin nanoplates. The nonlocal effects are captured based on the integral model of nonlocal elasticity. The formulation is developed in matrix-vector form which can be readily used in finite element method. Comparisons are made between the results of differential and integral models for the bending problem. The proposed integral model is capable of resolving the paradox appeared in the results of differential model.

Citation

Norouzzadeh, A., Ansari, R. and Rouhi, H. (2018), "Isogeometric analysis of Mindlin nanoplates based on the integral formulation of nonlocal elasticity", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 810-827. https://doi.org/10.1108/MMMS-09-2017-0109