Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Composite Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

A comprehensive study on FGM nanoplates embedded in an elastic

medium
Mohammed Sobhy
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh 33516, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This work is devoted to investigate the bending response, free vibration, mechanical buckling and ther-
Available online 11 September 2015 mal buckling of functionally graded material (FGM) nanoplates embedded in an elastic medium.
According to a new mixture law, the material properties of the FGM nanoplate are graded only in the
Keywords: thickness direction. The elastic medium is modeled as Pasternak’s two-parameter elastic foundations.
Nonlocal theory The four-unknown shear deformation theory incorporated in Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory is
FGM nanoplate employed to deduce the equations of motion from the Hamilton’s principle. The solutions of simply sup-
Bending
ported FGM nanoplates are obtained and the results are compared with those available in the literature.
Vibration
Buckling
Detailed numerical studies are performed to demonstrate the influences of inhomogeneity parameter,
Four-unknown shear deformation theory nonlocal parameter, elastic foundation stiffness, plate aspect ratio and side-to-thickness ratio on the
behavior of FGM nanoplates.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Among these theories, the nonlocal continuum theory proposed

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) plates are generally made
from a mixture of ceramic and metal materials with a desired
change of the volume fractions of the two materials in between
the two surfaces. The properties of the plate are varied from one
interface to another, avoiding interface problems of composite
materials and thus the stress distribution through the thickness
of the plate becomes smooth.
In recent years, FGMs have been widely used as nanostructures
in many engineering applications such as micro/nano-electro-
mechanical systems, thin films in the form of shape memory alloys
and atomic force microscopes [1–5] to achieve high sensitivity and
desired performance. It is necessary to account for the small scale
effect on the FGMs that used in nanodevices. Further, the experi-
mental results have explained that the neglecting these effects lead
to incorrect solutions and hence wrong designs [6–8]. For studying
the behavior of FGM nanodevices, the classical continuum theories
are no longer valid because they do not include any internal length
scales. Thus, there are many theories have been developed to con-
sider the size effect on plates and beams that are commonly used
in these devices, such as the modified couple stress theory [9],
the strain gradient theory [10,11], the micropolar theory [12], the
nonlocal elasticity theory [13], and the surface elasticity [14].
E-mail address: msobhy2011@gmail.com
by Eringen [15–17] is widely used in the literature for accurate
and quick analysis of nanostructures (see, e.g., [18–36]). In this
way, recently, the application of nonlocality in nanostructures
has broadly been spread into the nanotechnology community.
The nonlocal continuum theory is used not only for homoge-
neous nanostructures, but also for FGM nanostructures. On the
basis of the nonlocal theory, the natural frequency of axially FGM
tapered nanobeam with variable cross-section was studied by
ß imsßek [37]. He investigated the free vibration of clamped–
S
clamped and clamped-free nanorods using Galerkin method. Also,
ß imsßek and Yurtcu [38] have investigated the static bending and
S
buckling of a functionally graded nanobeam based on the nonlocal
Timoshenko and Euler–Bernoulli beam theories. Natarajan et al.
[39] captured the size effect on linear free vibration of FG nano-
plates by using Eringen’s differential form of nonlocal elasticity
theory on the basis of the finite element method. In Eltaher et al.
[40], the nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to investigate the
small scale effect on the free vibration analysis of FGM nanobeams
using finite element method based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam
theory. Based on the first-order shear deformation theory, Hashemi
et al. [41] investigated the natural frequency of circular and annu-
lar FG nanoplates using Eringen’s nonlocal theory. In Nazemnezhad
and Hashemi [42], the nonlocal elasticity and Euler–Bernoulli
beam theories have been employed to investigate the nonlinear
free vibration of FG nanobeams with simply supported-simply

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2015.08.102
0263-8223/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 967

z Table 1
Comparison of the deflection and in-plane stress rxx of a square FGM plate without
elastic foundations.

a=h Source w rxx ðh=3Þ

E2 , ρ 2 , α 2 a y
n¼1 n¼4 n ¼ 10 n¼1 n¼4 n ¼ 10
b 4 Ref. [82] 7.171 11.585 13.745 6.221 4.877 3.695
Present 7.284 11.598 13.908 5.812 4.448 3.258
h
10 Ref. [82] 5.875 8.821 10.072 15.064 11.971 8.965
Shear layer
Ref. [83] 5.889 8.819 10.089 14.894 11.783 8.775
Winkler's springs Present 5.889 8.814 10.087 14.898 11.793 8.784
x
E1 , ρ1 , α1 100 Ref. [82] 5.625 8.286 9.361 149.69 119.23 89.077
Present 5.625 8.286 9.361 149.68 119.21 89.060

Fig. 1. FGM nanoplate resting on two-layer elastic foundations.

bending and shear components, which are functions of coordinates

Fig. 2. Variation of the volume fraction (V 2 ) through the thickness of the FGM plate
for various values of the inhomogeneity parameter n.
supported and simply supported-clamped boundary conditions.
Further, Hashemi and his colleagues [43,44] studied the natural
frequencies of FGM nanobeams under the effects of surface elastic-
ity, surface stress, and surface density as well as the piezoelectric
field employing the nonlocal elasticity theory.
The classical plate theory (CPT), which is commonly used for
studying the behavior of plates, does not take account the shear
deformation effect. Thus, it leads to less accurate results for small
values of the side-to-thickness ratio of the plate. This theory con-
tains three unknown functions and thus three governing equations
are deduced. To overcome the drawbacks of CPT, first-order shear
deformation plate theory (FPT) has been developed [45]. This the-
ory considers the effect of transverse shear deformation. However,
it needs a shear correction factor which depends on the geometric
parameters and boundary conditions. Therefore, various higher-
order plate theories (HPTs), that consider the shear deformation
effect and don’t need a shear correction factor, have been devel-
oped (see, e.g., [46–53]). The FPT and HPTs contain at least five
unknown functions and consequently five governing equations
are resulted that may be complicated. In order to reduce the
unknowns, Shimpi [54] developed a new shear deformation plate
theory depending only on two unknowns. This theory takes into
account not only the transverse shear strains, but also their para-
bolic variation through the thickness of plate and does not need
a shear correction factor in calculating the shear stresses. This
theory is established based on the following main assumptions
[54,55]: (i) the in-plane and transverse displacements contain
x, y and time t only; (ii) the bending part of in-plane displacement
is like that given in the CPT; and (iii) the shear part of in-plane
displacement gives the parabolic variation of shear strain and
hence of shear stress through the thickness of the plate. Also, in
this theory, the shear stresses are equal to zero at the top and
bottom surfaces of the plate. Based on the two-variable plate the-
ory, a number of papers have been published attempting to
develop this theory and use it to illustrate the bending
[35,36,56], vibration [33,56,57] and buckling [33,56,58,59] of
nanostructures. This theory with two unknowns is valid only for
homogeneous structures. Thus, for inhomogeneous ones such as
FGM structures, it is extended by Tounsi and his colleagues
[60–64], Thai and Choi [65] and Thai and Vo [66] to contain four
unknown functions by adding the stretch components to the
in-plane displacements.
The stability of composite plates (laminates, FGMs. . . etc.)
subjected to uniaxial or biaxial compression loads and/or uniform,
linear or nonlinear temperature rise has been studied by many
researchers (see, e.g., Refs. [67–71]). Harris [72] investigated the
buckling and post-buckling responses of rectangular angle-ply
laminated plates in which coupling effects and bifurcation buck-
ling occur when biaxial load is applied. Singh et al. [73] studied
the bifurcation buckling of unsymmetrically laminated plates.
They found that the bifurcation buckling takes place for unsym-
metrically laminated plates if the stress resultants developed in
the plane of the plate are uniform or linearly varying and the
required essential and natural boundary conditions are satisfied.
They noted also that for the bifurcation buckling to occur, it is
not essential that the plate should remain flat during the pre-
buckling regime, the only condition is that the pre-buckling and
buckling paths should be distinctly different. Leissa [74] and Qatu
and Leissa [75] confirmed that the bifurcation buckling did not
occur for simply supported unsymmetric cross-ply laminated
plates due to the stretching/bending coupling effect. Also, Shen
[69,70] found that the bifurcation buckling did not take place
for FGM plates for the case of heat conduction. Liew et al. [76,77]
pointed out that no bifurcation buckling temperature occurs
for the FGM plates under uniform temperature rise. Moreover,
Yang and Shen [78] found that the simply supported FGM
plate under in-plane compressive loads has no bifurcation
buckling.
The main object of this paper is to introduce a new mixture law
to govern the variation of constituents of material through the
thickness of the plate. In order to assess the accuracy of the sug-
gested law, some important problems are demonstrated: bending,
free vibration, mechanical buckling and thermal buckling of an
FGM nanoplate with simply-supported edges. For this purpose,
the sinusoidal four-unknown shear deformation plate theory
(SFPT) [66] is used to derive the equations of motion. This theory
accounts for cosine shear stress distribution across the thickness
968 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

Table 2
Comparison of the deflection and stresses of a square FGM plate for different values of elastic foundation parameters and inhomogeneity parameter (a=h ¼ 10).

ðw; ri Þ K1 K2 Source n¼0 n¼1 n¼2 n¼5 n ¼ 10

w 0 0 Ref. [84] 2.9603 5.8891 7.5733 9.1184 10.0892
Present 2.9605 5.8895 7.5730 9.1135 10.0870
100 0 Ref. [84] 2.3290 3.8258 4.4719 4.9691 5.2441
Present 2.3291 3.8260 4.4717 4.9676 5.2434
0 10 Ref. [84] 1.9284 2.8525 3.1969 3.4432 3.5730
Present 1.9285 2.8526 3.1968 3.4424 3.5727
100 10 Ref. [84] 1.6390 2.2617 2.4729 2.6178 2.6921
Present 1.6390 2.2617 2.4728 2.6173 2.6919
rxx ðh=2Þ 0 0 Ref. [84] 19.9550 30.8700 36.0936 42.4883 50.8901
Present 19.9432 30.8500 36.0669 42.4470 50.8488
100 0 Ref. [84] 15.6991 20.0546 21.3127 23.1542 26.4513
Present 15.6895 20.0411 21.2973 23.1373 26.4325
0 10 Ref. [84] 12.9991 14.9526 15.2360 16.0439 18.0222
Present 12.9909 14.9423 15.2251 16.0336 18.0101
100 10 Ref. [84] 11.0480 11.8556 11.7857 12.1978 13.5791
Present 11.0410 11.8474 11.7773 12.1906 13.5703
rxz ð0Þ 0 0 Ref. [84] 2.4618 2.4618 2.2650 2.0167 2.1981
Present 2.3857 2.3857 2.1856 1.9296 2.1135
100 0 Ref. [84] 1.9368 1.5993 1.3375 1.0990 1.1425
Present 1.8768 1.5498 1.2906 1.0518 1.0986
0 10 Ref. [84] 1.6037 1.1924 0.9561 0.7615 0.7784
100 10 Present 1.3630 0.9455 0.7396 0.5790 0.5865
Ref. [84] 1.3207 0.9161 0.7137 0.5541 0.5640
Present 1.5540 1.1555 0.9226 0.7289 0.7486
rxy ðh=3Þ 0 0 Ref. [84] 7.0652 6.1104 5.4409 5.7546 5.8937
Present 7.0665 6.1111 5.4421 5.7567 5.8958
100 0 Ref. [84] 5.5584 3.9696 3.2128 3.1360 3.0634
Present 5.5593 3.9699 3.2135 3.1379 3.0648
0 10 Ref. [84] 4.6024 2.9597 2.2968 2.1730 2.0872
Present 4.6031 2.9599 2.2973 2.1745 2.0882
100 10 Ref. [84] 3.9116 2.3467 1.7766 1.6521 1.5726
Present 3.9122 2.3468 1.7770 1.6533 1.5734

used with the plane z ¼ 0 coincident with the middle plane of

Table 3 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Comparison of dimensionless frequency (xh q2 =G) of a homogeneous nanoplate the plate. Let the FGM nanoplate be resting on two-parameter elas-
without elastic foundations. tic foundations. The load–displacement relationship of the elastic
foundations is defined as
a=b a=h r; m Source l2 ðnm2 Þ
0 1 2 3 Rf ¼ k1 ðwb þ ws Þ  k2 r2 ðwb þ ws Þ; ð1Þ
0.5 10 1, 1 Ref. [57] 0.058883 0.055556 0.052736 0.050305 where Rf is the force per unit area; k1 and k2 are the Winkler founda-
Present 0.058883 0.055556 0.052736 0.050305
20 1, 1 Ref. [57] 0.014965 0.014119 0.013402 0.012785 tion stiffness and the shearing layer stiffness, respectively; wb and ws
Present 0.014965 0.014119 0.013402 0.012785 denote the bending and shear components of the transverse displace-
1 10 1, 1 Ref. [57] 0.093029 0.085016 0.078771 0.073726 ment, respectively, and r2 is the Laplace operator in x and y.
Present 0.093029 0.085016 0.078771 0.073726 The FG nanoplate can be made by mixing two different materi-
2, 2 Ref. [57] 0.34064 0.25464 0.21212 0.16704 als. The composition is assumed to be varied from the top surface
Present 0.340634 0.254633 0.212105 0.185591
3, 3 Ref. [57] 0.64400 0.41049 0.32055 0.27184
(z ¼ h=2) to the bottom one (z ¼ h=2). Poisson’s ratio m is
Present 0.683959 0.410467 0.320537 0.271858 presumed to be constant, i.e. m ¼ 0:3, while Young’s modulus E
20 1, 1 Ref. [57] 0.023864 0.021808 0.020206 0.018912 (z), mass density qðzÞ and thermal expansion coefficient aðzÞ vary
Present 0.023864 0.021808 0.020206 0.018912 continuously in the thickness direction according to a new power
law:

V 2
E2
EðzÞ ¼ E1 ; ð2aÞ
and satisfies the free shear stress boundary conditions on the top E1
and bottom surfaces of the nanoplate. To capture the small scale
V 2
effect in nanoplates, Eringen’s nonlocal continuum theory is q2
qðzÞ ¼ q1 ; ð2bÞ
employed. Analytical solutions for the present problems are pre- q1
sented for a simply supported nanoplate, and the obtained results

V 2
are compared with those being in the literature. a2
aðzÞ ¼ a1 ; ð2cÞ
a1
2. Problem formulation
where the subscripts 1 and 2 denote the bottom surface and the top
one materials, respectively and V 2 is the volume fraction of the
2.1. Plate construction
second material (top surface) that is related with the volume
fraction of the first material (bottom surface) as follows:
Consider a rectangular (a  b) FGM nanoplate of thickness h as
shown in Fig. 1. The rectangular Cartesian coordinates (x; y; z) is V 1 ¼ 1  V 2: ð3Þ
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 969

Table 4
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Comparison of dimensionless frequency (xh q1 =E1 ) of a square FGM plate without or resting on elastic foundations.

K1 K2 n Ref. [85] Present

h
a ¼ 0:05 0.1 0.15 0.2 h
a ¼ 0:05 0.1 0.15 0.2

0 0 0 0.0291 0.1134 0.2454 0.4154 0.0291 0.1134 0.2454 0.4154

0.5 0.0249 0.0975 0.2121 0.3606 0.0247 0.0964 0.2091 0.3552
1 0.0227 0.0891 0.1939 0.3299 0.0222 0.0869 0.1886 0.3206
2 0.0209 0.0819 0.1778 0.3016 0.0202 0.0788 0.1706 0.2893
5 0.0197 0.0767 0.1648 0.2765 0.0191 0.0740 0.1589 0.2667
100 0 0.0406 0.1599 0.3515 0.6080 0.0406 0.1599 0.3515 0.6080
0.5 0.0389 0.1540 0.3407 0.5932 0.0387 0.1527 0.3371 0.5861
1 0.0382 0.1517 0.3365 0.5876 0.0378 0.1495 0.3305 0.5755
2 0.0380 0.1508 0.3351 0.5861 0.0374 0.1479 0.3270 0.5696
5 0.0381 0.1515 0.3362 0.5879 0.0377 0.1487 0.3286 0.5723
100 0 0 0.0298 0.1162 0.2519 0.4273 0.0298 0.1162 0.2518 0.4272
0.5 0.0258 0.1012 0.2204 0.3758 0.0256 0.1000 0.2174 0.3704
1 0.0238 0.0933 0.2036 0.3476 0.0233 0.0911 0.1982 0.3382
2 0.0221 0.0867 0.1889 0.3219 0.0214 0.0837 0.1818 0.3097
5 0.0210 0.0821 0.1775 0.2999 0.0205 0.0795 0.1716 0.2901
100 0 0.0411 0.1619 0.3560 0.6162 0.0411 0.1619 0.3560 0.6161
0.5 0.0395 0.1563 0.3460 0.6026 0.0392 0.1550 0.3423 0.5954
1 0.0388 0.1542 0.3422 0.5978 0.0384 0.1520 0.3361 0.5855
2 0.0386 0.1535 0.3412 0.5970 0.0381 0.1505 0.3329 0.5802
5 0.0388 0.1543 0.3427 0.5993 0.0384 0.1515 0.3349 0.5834

Table 5
 of a homogeneous nanoplate without or resting on elastic foundations (h ¼ 0:34 nm).
Comparison of critical buckling temperature change (DT)

K1; K2 l (nm) b Ref. [29] Present

a a
h
¼5 10 25 25 a
h
¼5 10 25 25

0, 0 0 1 41.3331 11.9793 2.0065 0.5050 41.3175 11.9782 2.0064 0.5050

2 27.7364 7.6396 1.2583 0.3159 27.7301 7.6392 1.2582 0.3159
3 24.9961 6.8165 1.1192 0.2809 24.9911 6.8161 1.1191 0.2808
1 1 5.2787 4.4244 1.5759 0.4728 5.2767 4.4240 1.5759 0.4727
2 5.2642 3.6956 1.0747 0.3030 5.2630 3.6954 1.0747 0.3030
3 5.2135 3.4981 0.9717 0.2706 5.2124 3.4979 0.9717 0.2706
3 1 0.6616 0.7319 0.5801 0.3128 0.6614 0.7318 0.5801 0.3127
2 0.7036 0.7204 0.4960 0.2282 0.7035 0.7203 0.4960 0.2282
3 0.7111 0.7147 0.4730 0.2094 0.7110 0.7147 0.4730 0.2093

100, 0 0 1 54.3231 15.2268 2.5261 0.6349 54.3074 15.2257 2.5260 0.6349

2 48.5202 12.8355 2.0896 0.5237 48.5139 12.8351 2.0896 0.5237
3 48.3779 12.6619 2.0544 0.5147 48.3729 12.6616 2.0544 0.5147

1 1 18.2686 7.6719 2.0955 0.6027 18.2666 7.6715 2.0955 0.6026

2 26.0480 8.8915 1.9061 0.5108 26.0469 8.8914 1.9061 0.5108
3 28.5953 9.3435 1.9069 0.5044 28.5942 9.3434 1.9069 0.5044
3 1 13.6515 3.9794 1.0997 0.4427 13.6513 3.9793 1.0997 0.4426
2 21.4874 5.9163 1.3274 0.4361 21.4873 5.9163 1.3273 0.4360
3 24.0929 6.5601 1.4083 0.4432 24.0928 6.5601 1.4083 0.4432
100, 10 0 1 79.9641 21.6370 3.5517 0.8913 79.9484 21.6360 3.5517 0.8913
2 74.1613 19.2458 3.1153 0.7802 74.1550 19.2454 3.1152 0.7801
3 74.0189 19.0722 3.0801 0.7711 74.0139 19.0719 3.0800 0.7711

1 1 43.9096 1.0821 3.1212 0.8591 43.9076 14.0818 3.1211 0.8590

2 51.6891 15.3018 2.9317 0.7672 51.6879 15.3016 2.9317 0.7672
3 54.2363 15.7538 2.9326 0.7609 54.2352 15.7536 2.9326 0.7608

3 1 39.2926 10.3896 2.1253 0.6991 39.2923 10.3895 2.1253 0.6991

2 47.1285 12.3266 2.3530 0.6925 47.1283 12.3266 2.3530 0.6925
3 49.7340 12.9704 2.4339 0.6996 49.7338 12.9704 2.4339 0.6996

The volume fraction of the second material is assumed by:


n
z 1
V2 ¼ þ ; 0 6 n 6 1:
h 2
where n is the non-negative parameter (inhomogeneity parameter),
which determines the material variation profile through the thick-
ness of the FGM plate. The value of n equaling to zero represents
a fully homogeneous plate (with properties E2 ; q2 anda2 ). While,
when n ffi 1, we obtain a fully homogeneous plate (with properties
E1 ; q1 anda1 ). Fig. 2 exhibits the variation of the volume fraction of
the second material (V 2 Þ through the plate thickness for different
ð4Þ values of the inhomogeneity parameter n. It is noted that, with
the increase of n, the volume fraction V 2 decreases.
2.2. Constitutive equations
The two-variable shear deformation theory is reconstructed by
introducing the displacement components in terms of sinusoidal
970 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

Fig. 3. Effect of the inhomogeneity parameter n on (a) the deflection w, (b) in-plane normal stress rxx , (c) transverse shear stress rxz and (d) in-plane shear stress rxy
(a=h ¼ 10) of FGM nanoplates resting on elastic foundations (K 1 ¼ 100; K 2 ¼ 10; l ¼ 1 nm).

functions [33] to represent the effect of the plate thickness and e11 ¼ e011 þ zjb11 þ WðzÞjs11 ; ð6aÞ
approximated the shear stress distribution through the thickness.
The theory has been used to investigate the responses of FGM e22 ¼ e022 þ zjb22 þ WðzÞjs22 ; e33 ¼ 0 ð6bÞ
plates [64,66] by adding an extension term to the in-plane dis-
placements. Therefore, the present sinusoidal theory contains four e12 ¼ e012 þ zjb12 þ WðzÞjs12 ; ð6cÞ
unknowns. The generalized displacement field is presented as
9
u1 ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ uðx; y; tÞ  z @w
b
 WðzÞ @w
s
;> e13 ¼ gðzÞjs13 ; e23 ¼ gðzÞjs23 ; ð6dÞ
@x @x = >
u2 ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ v ðx; y; tÞ  z @w W ð5Þ
b @ws
@y
 ðzÞ @y >
; where
>
;
u3 ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ wb ðx; y; tÞ þ ws ðx; y; tÞ;
@u @v @ v @u
where u and v are displacement components (extension terms) of e011 ¼ ; e022 ¼ ; e012 ¼ þ ; ð7aÞ
@x @y @x @y
the material point (x1 ; x2 ) in the mid-plane along the x1 and x2
 
directions, respectively. The function WðzÞ ¼ z  ph sin phz . @ 2 wb @ 2 wb @ 2 wb
jb11 ¼  ; jb22 ¼  ; jb12 ¼ 2 ; ð7bÞ
Based on the above displacement field (5), the strain compo- @x2 @y2 @x@y
nents eij are given as
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 971

Fig. 4. Effect of the elastic foundation stiffnesses (K 1 ; K 2 ) on (a) the deflection w, (b) in-plane normal stress rxx , (c) transverse shear stress rxz and (d) in-plane shear stress rxy
(a=h ¼ 10) of FGM nanoplates (n ¼ 1:5; l ¼ 1 nm).

@ 2 ws @ 2 ws @ 2 ws EðzÞ EðzÞ EðzÞ

js11 ¼  ; js22 ¼  ; js12 ¼ 2 ; ð7cÞ Lr12 ¼ e12 ; Lr13 ¼ e13 ; Lr23 ¼ e23 ;
@x2 @y2 @x@y 2ð1 þ mÞ 2ð1 þ mÞ 2ð1 þ mÞ
ð8cÞ
@ws @ws pz
js13 ¼ ; js23 ¼ ; gðzÞ ¼ cos : ð7dÞ where DT is the temperature rise and the nonlocal operator L is
@x @y h
defined as
According to the nonlocal elasticity theory developed by Erin-
gen [15,16], the nonlocal constitutive relations of an FGM nano- L ¼ 1  l2 r 2 ; ð9Þ
plate can be written as in which l ¼ e0 ‘ is the nonlocal coefficient revealing the small scale
effect in nanostructures, where ‘ is an internal characteristic length
EðzÞ EðzÞaðzÞ (e.g., lattice parameter, crack length and wavelength) and e0 is a
Lr11 ¼ ½e11 þ me22   DT; ð8aÞ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1  m2 1m constant given by Eringen [16] as e0 ¼ p2  4=2p ffi 0:39. For a
nanobeam model, Wang and Hu [79] proposed e0 ffi 0:288. Zhang
EðzÞ EðzÞaðzÞ
Lr22 ¼ ½e22 þ me11   DT; ð8bÞ et al. [80] suggested e0 ffi 0:82 for studying the axial buckling of
1  m2 1m nanobeams. In general, the value of nonlocal coefficient should
972 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

Fig. 5. Effect of the nonlocal coefficient l on (a) the deflection w, (b) in-plane normal stress rxx , (c) transverse shear stress rxz and (d) in-plane shear stress rxy (a=h ¼ 10) of
FGM nanoplates resting on elastic foundations (K 1 ¼ 10; K 2 ¼ 10; n ¼ 1:5).

be l 6 2 for carbon nanotubes as introduced by Wang and Wang @ 2 Mb11 @ 2 M b12 @ 2 Mb22 @2 @2
[81]. þ2 þ þ q þ F 11 2 ðwb þ ws Þ þ 2F 12 ðwb þ ws Þ
@x2 @x@y @y2 @x @x@y
@2 @2
þ F 22 ðwb þ ws Þ  Rf ¼ J 1 2 ðwb þ ws Þ
3. Equations of motion @y 2
@t


@ 2 @u @ v 2 @
2

Using the Hamilton’s principle, the equations of motion associ- þ J2 2 þ  r 2 ðJ 4 wb þ J 5 ws Þ; ð10cÞ

@t @x @y @t
ated with the displacement field in Eq. (5) can be given as:
@ 2 Ms11 @ 2 Ms12 @ 2 Ms22 @S13 @S23 @2
@N11 @N12 @2u @ 3 wb @ 3 ws þ2 þ þ þ þ q þ F 11 2 ðwb þ ws Þ
þ ¼ J1 2  J2 2  J3 2 ; ð10aÞ @x 2 @x@y @y 2 @x @y @x
@x @y @t @t @x @t @x @2 @2 @2
þ 2F 12 ðwb þ ws Þ þ F 22 2 ðwb þ ws Þ  Rf ¼ J 1 2 ðwb þ ws Þ
@x@y @y @t


@N12 @N22 @2v @ 3 wb @ 3 ws @ 2 @u @ v @ 2
þ ¼ J1 2  J2 2  J3 2 ; ð10bÞ þ J3 2 þ  r2 2 ðJ 5 wb þ J 6 ws Þ; ð10dÞ
@x @y @t @t @y @t @y @t @x @y @t
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 973

 , (b) critical buckling load Bk and (c) critical buckling temperature change DT of FGM nanoplates resting
Fig. 6. Effect of the inhomogeneity parameter n on (a) the frequency x
on elastic foundations (K 1 ¼ 100; K 2 ¼ 10; l ¼ 1 nm).

2 3 2 3
where the stress resultants ðN ij ; Mbij ; Msij ; Si3 Þ are given as J1 J2 J3 Z h 1
6 7 2
  ¼ 4z 7
6
4 J2 J4 J5 5 ¼ qðzÞ½Adz; A 5½ 1 z W  ð12Þ
Z 2h
h=2
J3 J5 J6 W
fN ij ; M bij ; M sij g ¼ f1; z; WðzÞgrij dz; ð11aÞ
h=2 The in-plane edge loads F ij are written as
Z h=2 F 11 ¼ p11 þ NT11 ; F 22 ¼ p22 þ NT22 ; F 12 ¼ 0 ð13Þ
Si3 ¼ gðzÞri3 dz; i; j ¼ 1; 2; ð11bÞ
h=2
where ðp11 ; p22 Þ and ðNT11 ; N T22 Þ are the normal in-plane forces due to
the mechanical and temperature loads, respectively, distributed
and the inertias J i are along the edges parallel to (x2 ; x1 ), which are given as
974 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

 , (b) critical buckling load Bk and (c) critical buckling temperature change DT of FGM
Fig. 7. Effect of the elastic foundation stiffnesses (K 1 ; K 2 ) on (a) the frequency x
nanoplates (n ¼ 1:5; l ¼ 1 nm).

2 3 2 0 3 2 0 3 2 3
p11 ¼ p22 ¼ p; ð14aÞ N22 e22 e11 NT
6 b 7 6 b 7 6 b 7 6 b7
Z h
L4 M 22 5 ¼ ½A4 j22 5 þ ½B4 j11 5 þ 4 M T 5; ð15bÞ
2 EðzÞ M s22 js22 js11 M sT
NT11 ¼ NT22 ¼ NT ¼  aðzÞDTdz: ð14bÞ
2h 1m
2 3 2 3
By substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (11) with the help of Eq. (6), the N12 e012
s

6 b 7 6 b 7 S13 j
stress resultants (11) are given as L4 M 12 5 ¼ ½D4 j12 5; L ¼ H 13 ; ð15cÞ
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 S js23
N 11 e011 e022 NT M s12 js12
23

6 b 7 6 b 7 6 b 7 6 b7
L4 M 11 5 ¼ ½A4 j11 5 þ ½B4 j22 5 þ 4 M T 5; ð15aÞ where
M s11 js11 js22 M sT
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 975

 , (b) critical buckling load Bk and (c) critical buckling temperature change DT of FGM nanoplates resting on
Fig. 8. Effect of the nonlocal coefficient l on (a) the frequency x
elastic foundations (K 1 ¼ 10; K 2 ¼ 10; n ¼ 1:5).

Z Z Z
mEðzÞ 
h h h
2EðzÞ  2 2 EðzÞ 
½A ¼
h2 1  m
2
½Adz; ½B ¼
h2 1  m
2
½Adz; ½D ¼
2ð1 þ mÞ
½Adz; ð16aÞ @2u @2u @2v @3
h2 A11 þ D11 2 þ ðB11 þ D11 Þ  3 ðA12 wb þ A13 ws Þ
@x2 @y @x@y @x
Z h Z h
2 EðzÞ 2 EðzÞ @3
H¼
2
½gðzÞ dz;fMbT ; MsT g ¼  aðzÞDTfz; Wgdz; ð16bÞ  ½ðB12 þ 2D12 Þwb þ ðB13 þ 2D13 Þws 
2h 2ð1 þ mÞ 2h 1m @x@y2
In order to obtain the nonlocal equations of motion in terms of
!
@2u @ 3 wb @ 3 ws
the displacement components u; v ; wb and ws , one can apply the þ ð1  l 2
r Þ J1 2 þ J2 2 þ J3 2
2
¼ 0; ð17aÞ
@t @t @x @t @x
operator L to Eq. (10) and then substitute Eq. (15) into the result-
ing equations as:
976 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980

! !
@3u @3v @3u @3v
A13 þ þ ðB13 þ 2D13 Þ þ
@x3 @y3 @x@y2 @x2 @y
!
@4 @4
 þ ðA23 wb þ A33 ws Þ
@x4 @y4
@3  
2 ðB23 þ 2D23 Þwb þ ðB33 þ 2D33 Þws
@x2 @y2
! "
@ 2 wb @ 2 ws
þH þ þ ð1  l r
2 2
Þ q  ðp  NT Þr2 ðwb þ ws Þ
@x2 @y2


@2 @ 2 @u @ v
 Rf  J 1 2 ðwb þ ws Þ  J 3 2 þ
@t @t @x @y
#
2
@
þ r2 2 ðJ 5 wb þ J 6 ws Þ ¼ 0: ð17dÞ
@t

4. Analytical solutions

Based on Navier solution procedure, the following expansions of

displacements are given to satisfy the simply supported boundary
conditions of the nanoplate
Fig. 9. Effect of the temperature change DT on critical buckling load Bk of FGM
nanoplates resting on elastic foundations (K 1 ¼ 100; K 2 ¼ 10; a=h ¼ 10; n ¼ 1:5). X
1 X
1
u¼ U rm eIxt cos bx sin cy ð18aÞ
@2u @2v @2v @3 r¼1 m¼1
ðB11 þ D11 Þ þ D11 2 þ A11 2  3 ðA12 wb þ A13 ws Þ
@x@y @x @y @y X
1 X
1

@3   v¼ V rm eIxt sin bx cos cy; ð18bÞ

 2 ðB12 þ 2D12 Þwb þ ðB13 þ 2D13 Þws r¼1 m¼1
@x @y
!
@2v @ 3 wb @ 3 ws X
1 X
1
þ ð1  l2 r2 Þ J 1 2 þ J 2 2 þ J 3 2 ¼ 0; ð17bÞ fwb ; ws g ¼ fW brm ; W srm geIxt sin bx sin cy; ð18cÞ
@t @t @y @t @y
r¼1 m¼1

! ! !
@3u @3v @3u @3v @4 @4 where U rm ; V rm ; W brm and W srm are the unknown coefficients,
A12 þ þ ðB12 þ 2D12 Þ þ  þ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
@x3 @y3 @x@y2 @x2 @y @x4 @y4 b ¼ rp=a, c ¼ mp=b, I ¼ 1 and x is the eigenfrequency. The
applied transverse load qðx; yÞ is expanded in double-Fourier sine
@3  series as follows:
 ðA22 wb þ A23 ws Þ  2 ðB22 þ 2D22 Þwb
@x2 @y2
" X
1 X
1
qðx; yÞ ¼ Q rm sin bx sin cy; ð19Þ
þ ðB23 þ 2D23 Þw  þ ð1  l r Þ q  ðp  NT Þr ðw þ w Þ
s 2 2 2 b s
r¼1 m¼1

 where
@2 @ 2 @u @ v
Rf  J 1 ðwb
þ ws
Þ  J 2 þ (
@t2 @t2 @x @y q0 ; for sinusoidal load
# Q rm ¼ 16q0 ð20Þ
@ 2
rmp2
; for uniform load
þ r2 ðJ 4 wb þ J 5 ws Þ ¼ 0; ð17cÞ
@t2
in which q0 is the intensity of the load at the plate center.

Table 6
The deflection and stresses of a square FGM nanoplate without or resting on elastic foundations for different values of inhomogeneity parameter (a=h ¼ 10).

K1 K2 n l ¼ 0 nm l ¼ 2 nm
w rxx rxz rxy w rxx rxz rxy
0 0 0.0 2.9603 19.9550 2.4618 10.7450 5.2977 35.7108 4.4056 19.2289
0.5 5.4971 29.6544 2.4559 4.4493 9.8374 53.0686 4.3950 7.9624
2.5 8.8382 41.8345 2.1227 7.5813 15.8166 74.8658 3.7988 13.5671
5.5 10.0219 50.4378 2.1679 8.1777 17.9350 90.2620 3.8796 14.6345
10.5 11.1361 61.1311 2.3001 8.5915 19.9288 109.3982 4.1162 15.3751
100 0 0.0 2.3290 15.6991 1.9368 8.4534 3.5671 24.0455 2.9664 12.9475
0.5 3.6564 19.7250 1.6336 2.9595 5.1752 27.9183 2.3121 4.1888
2.5 4.8847 23.1212 1.1732 4.1900 6.4599 30.5774 1.5515 5.5412
5.5 5.2259 26.3004 1.1304 4.2642 6.7874 34.1591 1.4682 5.5383
10.5 5.5135 30.2661 1.1388 4.2537 7.0545 38.7253 1.4571 5.4425
100 10 0.0 0.4470 3.0133 0.3717 1.6226 0.4789 3.2284 0.3983 1.7383
0.5 0.4805 2.5922 0.2147 0.3889 0.4998 2.6962 0.2233 0.4045
2.5 0.4969 2.3522 0.1194 0.4263 0.5096 2.4120 0.1224 0.4371
5.5 0.5003 2.5177 0.1082 0.4082 0.5115 2.5744 0.1107 0.4173
10.5 0.5028 2.7599 0.1038 0.3879 0.5130 2.8160 0.1060 0.3957
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980 977

Table 7
 , mechanical buckling load Bk and thermal buckling load DT of a square FGM nanoplate without or resting on elastic foundations for different values of
The frequency x
inhomogeneity parameter (a=h ¼ 10).

K1 K2 n l ¼ 0 nm l ¼ 2nm
x
 Bk DT x
 Bk DT
0 0 0.0 1.9318 18.6876 11.9793 1.4441 10.4425 6.6939
0.5 1.4969 10.0638 7.5745 1.1189 5.6235 4.2326
2.5 1.2572 6.2593 5.6795 0.9397 3.4976 3.1737
5.5 1.2087 5.5200 5.3680 0.9035 3.0845 2.9996
10.5 1.1609 4.9677 5.0102 0.8678 2.7759 2.7997
100 0 0.0 2.1780 23.7537 15.2267 1.7598 15.5086 9.9414
0.5 1.8354 15.1298 11.3874 1.5427 10.6896 8.0455
2.5 1.6910 11.3254 10.2763 1.4704 8.5637 7.7705
5.5 1.6738 10.5860 10.2945 1.4686 8.1506 7.9261
10.5 1.6499 10.0338 10.1196 1.4585 7.8420 7.9091
100 10 0.0 3.8377 73.7537 47.2780 3.6167 65.5086 41.9927
0.5 3.8077 65.1298 49.0196 3.6753 60.6896 45.6777
2.5 3.9339 61.3254 55.6447 3.8432 58.5637 53.1389
5.5 4.0031 60.5860 58.9175 3.9206 58.1506 56.5491
10.5 4.0349 60.0338 60.5472 3.8553 57.8420 58.3367

3


By substituting Eqs. (18) and (19) into Eq. (17), one obtains the 102 E2 h a b 10h a b h
w¼ u3 ; ; rxx ¼ r11 ; ; ;
equations of motion in terms of the unknowns U rm ; V rm ; W brm and q0 a 4 2 2 q0 a 2 2 2


W srm as: 10h b
02 3 2 318 9 8 9 rxz ¼ r13 0; ; 0 ;
P 11 P12 P13 P14 R11 0 R13 R14 > U rm > > 0 > q0 a 2
>
> >
> > > > >
B6 P
B6 12 P22 P23 P24 7
7
60
26
R22 R23 R24 7C V rm = < 0 =
7C <
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
B6 7x 6 7C ¼ ;

@4 P 13 P23 P33 þ S P34 þ S 5 4 R13 R23 R33 R34 5A>>
> W b
>
rm >
> 
> >
Q > 10h h b
2
q2 h a2
: s > ; > :> ; rxy ¼ r12 0; 0;  ; x
 ¼x ; Bk ¼
P34 þ S P44 þ S p;
P 14 P24 R14 R24 R34 R44 W rm Q
q0 a 2 p2 D2 D2
ð21Þ
DT ¼ 103 a2 DT
where
3
P11 ¼ A11 b2 þ D11 c2 ; P 12 ¼ ðB11 þ D11 Þbc; K1 ¼
k1 a4
; K2 ¼
k2 a2
; D2 ¼
E2 h
:
D2 D2 12ð1  m2 Þ
P13 ¼ ½A12 b2 þ ðB12 þ 2D12 Þc2 b;
P14 ¼ ½A13 b2 þ ðB13 þ 2D13 Þc2 b; The material properties of the FGM nanoplates are: E1 ¼ 70 GPa,
E2 ¼380GPa, q1 ¼2707 kg/m3, q2 ¼3800 kg/m3, a1 ¼23106 K1
P22 ¼ A11 c2 þ D11 b2 ; P 23 ¼ ½A12 c2 þ ðB12 þ 2D12 Þb2 c; ð22Þ
and a2 ¼7106 K1.
P24 ¼ ½A13 c þ ðB13 þ 2D13 Þb2 c;
2

f ;
P33 ¼ A22 ðb4 þ c4 Þ þ 2ðB22 þ 2D22 Þb2 c2 þ R 5.1. Verification of the present results
P34 ¼ A23 ðb þ c Þ þ 2ðB23 þ 2D23 Þb c þ R
4 4 2 2 f ;
In order to validate the present formulations that predict the
f ;
P44 ¼ A33 ðb4 þ c4 Þ þ 2ðB33 þ 2D33 Þb2 c2 þ Hðb2 þ c2 ÞR static and dynamic responses of FGM nanoplates, various illustra-
tive examples are presented. In this subsection, the material prop-
 f ¼ ½k1 þ k2 ðb2 þ c2 ÞL;
R S ¼ ðp þ NT Þðb2 þ c2 ÞL;
erties (P) of the FGM plate are graded according to the following
R11 ¼ J 1 L; R13 ¼ J 2 bL; R14 ¼ J 3 bL; R22 ¼ R11 ; power-law form: P ¼ P1 þ ðP2  P1 ÞV 2 . The present dimensionless
ð23Þ deflection w and in-plane normal stress rxx of a square FGM plate
R23 ¼ J 2 cL; R24 ¼ J 3 cL; R33 ¼ J 1 L þ J 4 ðb2 þ c2 ÞL; without elastic foundations are compared with those of Carrera
R34 ¼ J 1 L þ J 5 ðb2 þ c2 ÞL; R44 ¼ J 1 L þ J6 ðb2 þ c2 ÞL; et al. [82] and Zenkour [83] as shown in Table 1. In this table,
the deflection w and stress rxx are obtained for different values
 ¼Q L
L ¼ ½1 þ l2 ðb2 þ c2 Þ; Q rm of the inhomogeneity parameter (n ¼ 1; 4; 10) and side-to-
For bending problem, the eigenfrequency and buckling loads thickness ratio (a=h ¼ 4; 10; 100). Increasing the ratio a=h leads to
are equal to zero. While, for vibration analysis, Q rm ¼ p ¼ DT ¼ 0. decrease the deflection and increase the stress rxx . An opposite
Finally, for buckling study, x ¼ Q rm ¼ 0. behavior for the deflection and rxx occurs with the increase of
inhomogeneity parameter n. It is clearly noted that the present
results agree very well with those being in Refs. [82] and [83]. With
5. Numerical results
the presence of the elastic foundations, the dimensionless deflec-
tion and stresses rxx , rxz and rxy are compared with those being
In this section, the effects of the nonlocal coefficient on the
in Ameur et al. [84]. As exhibited in Table 2, the present results
bending, fundamental frequency, critical buckling loads and criti-
are very agreement with the solutions of Ameur et al. [84]. It is also
cal buckling temperature of FGM square nanoplates (a ¼ b ¼
found that the results decrease with the presence of Winkler or
10 nm, h is varied from 0.5 to 2.5 nm) embedded in elastic founda-
Pasternak elastic foundations.
tions are precisely studied. The analysis is performed for simply
Moreover, the nonlocal results of the dimensionless frequency
supported FGM nanoplates. pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Herein, the following dimensionless quantities are used in the xh q2 =G, [G ¼ E2 =2ð1 þ mÞ] of a homogeneous nanoplate without
present numerical results: elastic foundations are compared with those introduced by Malek-
978 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980
zadeh and Shojaee [57] as listed in Table 3. For all values of the
nonlocal coefficient l, aspect ratio a=b, side-to-thickness ratio
a=h and mode numbers r and m, the present results are identical
with those of Malekzadeh and Shojaee [57]. However, in Table 4,
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
the local frequency (xh q1 =E1 ) of a square FGM plate without
or resting on elastic foundations are compared with the results
reported by Baferani et al. [85]. The present results are in excellent
agreement with published results.
Eventually, Table 5 displays the comparison of nonlocal critical
buckling temperature DT of a homogeneous nanoplate without or
resting on elastic foundations for l ¼ 0; 1; 3 nm;b=a ¼ 1;
2; 3 and a=h ¼ 5; 10; 25; 50 with Ref. [29]. Good agreements can
be clearly observed.
From the above comparisons, it is concluded that the present
formulations are completely trustful.
5.2. Parametric results
In this subsection, the effects of the nonlocal coefficient l, elas-
tic foundation stiffnesses K 1 and K 2 and inhomogeneity parameter
n on the deflection w, in-plane normal stress rxx transverse shear
stress rxz , in-plane shear stress rxy , natural frequency x  , critical
buckling load and critical buckling temperature difference DT are
numerically investigated in graphical (Figs. 3–9) and tabular form
(Tables 6 and 7). Table 6 shows the deflection w and stresses
rxx ; rxz and rxy of a local (l ¼ 0) and nonlocal (l ¼ 2) FGM square
nanoplate without or resting on elastic foundations for different
values of inhomogeneity parameter n. It is found that the presence
of elastic foundations has a significant effect on the results, where
it leads to a considerable reduction in the deflection and stresses.
On the other hand, with the change in the power law index n (inho-
mogeneity parameter), the behavior of stresses is very influenced
by the presence of elastic foundations. However, regardless of the
elastic foundations, the deflection increases as the parameter n
increases. It is also noted that the nonlocal theory always overpre-
dicts the magnitude of deflection and stresses. This due to that the
local plate is more stiffened than the nonlocal one.
Table 7 reveals that the natural frequency x  , critical buckling
load Bk and critical buckling temperature n difference DT of a
square FGM nanoplate without or resting on elastic foundations
for different values of inhomogeneity parameter n. The results
are listed for local and nonlocal plate models. Since the strength
of the nonlocal FGM plate is less than that of the local one, the fre-
quency of the first plate type is smaller than that of the second one.
Also, the external load or temperature that the nonlocal plates
need to buckle is less than that the local plates need to buckle. It
is noted that the inclusion of elastic foundations leads to noticeable
increments in the x  Irrespective of the elastic founda-
 , Bk and DT.
tions, the critical buckling load Bk decreases as the inhomogeneity
parameter n increases. While the variations of frequency x  and
buckling temperature DT versus the parameter n depend on the
presence of elastic foundations.
The effect of the inhomogeneity parameter (n ¼ 0; 0:5; 1:5;
2:5; 3:5) on the center deflection w, in-plane normal stress rxx
transverse shear stress rxz and in-plane shear stress rxy of FGM
nanoplates are examined in Fig. 3. Note that, when n ¼ 0, the plate
is composed of a homogeneous material with properties P 2 . It is
noticed that the deflection of the homogeneous plate is lower than
that of FGM one. With the increase of the side-to-thickness ratio,
the deflection decreases (see, Fig. 3a). Also, it is noted that the
inhomogeneity plays a great role in the stresses distribution
through the thickness of the plate. The in-plane normal and shear
stresses of a homogeneous plate are linearly varied through
the thickness of plate, whereas they vary nonlinearly through the
thickness of FGM plates as shown in Fig. 3b and d. Further, the
variation of the shear stress rxz through the thickness is not para-
bolic for FGM plates and the maximum values do not occur at the
center of plates. It is also found that the maximum stress rxz
decreases as the parameter n increases.
Fig. 4 shows that the deflection w and stresses rxx , rxz and rxy of
FGM plate have the same behavior with the variation of elastic
foundation parameters. They decrease by increasing the elastic
foundation parameters. Note that the maximum of the stress rxz
of FGM plate (n ¼ 1:5) does not occur at the plate center, but it
occurs at z=h ffi 0:219: Also, the in-plane stresses rxx and rxy are
equal to zero at z=h ffi 0:148.
The influence played by the nonlocality on the bending
response of FGM plate is investigated in Fig. 5. It is clear that the
deflection w and stresses rxx , rxz and rxy of FGM plate monotoni-
cally increase as the nonlocal coefficient l increases.
Fig. 6 exhibits the variation of the natural frequency x  , critical
buckling load Bk and critical buckling temperature change DT of
FGM nanoplates (l ¼ 1 nm) against the side-to-thickness ratio
a=h for various values of the inhomogeneity parameter n. It is to
be seen that the frequency x  and critical buckling Bk increase by
increasing the ratio a=h and decreasing the parameter n, whereas
the critical buckling temperature has an opposite behavior.
As exhibited in Figs. 7 and 8, the natural frequency x  , critical
buckling load Bk and critical buckling temperature change DT of
FGM nanoplates increase as either the Winkler (K 1 ) or Pasternak
(K 2 ) parameters increase. However, a decrement occurs in the fre-
quency and buckling loads as the nonlocal coefficient l increases.
It is important to be noted that the effect of the coefficient l on the
vibration and buckling load Bk is more announced when the plate
becomes thin.
Finally, the effect of the temperature change DT on the critical
buckling load Bk of FGM nanoplate resting on elastic foundations
is depicted in Fig. 9. It is seen that the buckling load Bk decreases
as the temperature increases, i.e., with the increase of temperature,
the plate becomes weak and hence it needs to a small external load
to buckle.
6. Conclusions
A new power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions
of the material constituents is developed. According to this mixture
law, the mechanical properties of the FGM nanoplate vary
smoothly and continuously from one surface to another. Various
problems for the present FGM nanoplate, namely bending, vibra-
tion, mechanical and thermal buckling, are all investigated. The
FGM nanoplate is assumed to be simply supported and resting
on two-parameter elastic foundations. On the basis of the sinu-
soidal four-unknown shear deformation plate theory and the non-
local elasticity theory, the equations of motions are derived from
the Hamilton’s principle. These equations are solved analytically
to obtain the displacements, stresses, natural frequency, critical
buckling load and critical buckling temperature change of FGM
nanoplates. The accuracy of the present results has been verified.
It is found that the present results (deflection, stresses, frequency,
critical buckling temperature) are identical with those being in the
literature. From the numerical studies, it is concluded that:
(i) The inhomogeneity parameter (power law index) has signif-
icant effects on stresses and has increasing influences on the
deflection and buckling temperature, while it has decreasing
effects on the natural frequency and buckling load of FGM
nanoplates.
(ii) The large values of elastic foundation stiffnesses can
enhance the rigidity of the plates. Thus, they decrease the
 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980
deflection and stresses; and increase the frequency, buckling
load and buckling temperature of the plates.
(iii) With the increase of the nonlocal coefficient, a decrement
occurs for the stiffness of the FGM nanoplates.
(iv) The increase of the temperature leads to a reduction in crit-
ical buckling load.
(v) No bifurcation buckling takes place for FGM nanoplates
under biaxial compression load and/or uniform temperature
rise.
References
[1] Craciunescu CM, Wuttig M. New ferromagnetic and functionally grade shape
memory alloys. J Optoelectron Adv Mater 2003;5(1):139–46.
[2] Fu Y, Du H, Zhang S. Functionally graded TiN/TiNi shape memory alloy films. J
Mater Lett 2003;57(20):2995–9.
[3] Fu Y, Du H, Huang W, Zhang S, Hu M. TiNi-based thin films in MEMS
applications: a review. Sens Actuat A Phys 2004;112(2–3):395–408.
[4] Witvrouw A, Mehta A. The use of functionally graded poly-SiGe layers for
MEMS applications. Mater Sci Forum 2005;492–493:255–60.
[5] Lee Z, Ophus C, Fischer LM, Nelson-Fitzpatrick N, Westra KL, Evoy S, et al.
Metallic NEMS components fabricated from nanocomposite Al–Mo films. J
Nanotechnol 2006;17(12):3063–70.
[6] Chong A, Yang F, Lam D, Tong P. Torsion and bending of micron-scaled
structures. J Mater Res 2001;16:1052–8.
[7] Fleck N, Muller G, Ashby M, Hutchinson J. Strain gradient plasticity: theory and
experiment. Acta Metall Mater 1994;42:475–87.
[8] Ma Q, Clarke DR. Size dependent hardness of silver single crystals. J Mater Res
1995;10:853–63.
[9] Yang F, Chong ACM, Lam DCC, Tong P. Couple stress based strain gradient
theory for elasticity. Int J Solids Struct 2002;39:2731–43.
[10] Aifantis EC. Strain gradient interpretation of size effects. Int J Fract
1999;95:1–4.
[11] Sadeghi H, Baghani M, Naghdabadi R. Strain gradient elasticity solution for
functionally graded micro-cylinders. Int J Eng Sci 2012;50(1):22–30.
[12] Eringen AC. Theory of micropolar plates. Z Angew Math Phys 1967;18:12–30.
[13] Eringen AC. Nonlocal polar elastic continua. Int J Eng Sci 1972;10:1–16.
[14] Gurtin ME, Weissmuller J, Larche F. The general theory of curved deformable
interfaces in solids at equilibrium. Philos Mag A 1998:1093–109.
[15] Eringen AC, Edelen DGB. On nonlocal elasticity. Int J Eng Sci 1972;10:233–48.
[16] Eringen AC. ON differential-equations of nonlocal elasticity and solutions of
screw dislocation and surface-waves. J Appl Phys 1983;54:4703–10.
[17] Eringen AC. Nonlocal continuum field theories. New York: Springer; 2002.
[18] Reddy JN. Nonlocal theories for bending, buckling and vibration of beams. Int J
Eng Sci 2007;45(2):288–307.
[19] Ece MC, Aydogdu M. Nonlocal elasticity effect on vibration of in-plane loaded
double-walled carbon nano-tubes. Acta Mech 2007;190(1–4):185–95.
[20] Reddy JN, Pang SD. Nonlocal continuum theories of beams for the analysis of
carbon nanotubes. J Appl Phys 2008;103(2):023511.
[21] Aydogdu M. Vibration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by generalized shear
deformation theory. Int J Mech Sci 2008;50(4):837–44.
[22] Aghababaei R, Reddy JN. Nonlocal third-order shear deformation plate theory
with application to bending and vibration of plates. J Sound Vib 2009;326
(1):277–89.
[23] Amara K, Tounsi A, Mechab I. Nonlocal elasticity effect on column buckling of
multiwalled carbon nanotubes under temperature field. Appl Math Model
2010;34(12):3933–42.
[24] Aksencer T, Aydogdu M. Levy type solution method for vibration and buckling
of nanoplates using nonlocal elasticity theory. Physica E 2011;43(4):954–9.
[25] Samaei AT, Mirsayar MM. Buckling analysis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes
with consideration of small scale effects. J Comput Theor Nanos 2011;8
(11):2214–9.
[26] Hashemi SH, Samaei AT. Buckling analysis of micro/nanoscale plates via
nonlocal elasticity theory. Physica E 2011;43(7):1400–4.
[27] Aksencer T, Aydogdu M. Forced transverse vibration of nanoplates using
nonlocal elasticity. Physica E 2012;44(7):1752–9.
[28] Thai HT, Vo TP. A nonlocal sinusoidal shear deformation beam theory with
application to bending, buckling, and vibration of nanobeams. Int J Eng Sci
2012;54:58–66.
[29] Zenkour AM, Sobhy M. Nonlocal elasticity theory for thermal buckling of
nanoplates lying on Winkler–Pasternak elastic substrate medium. Physica E
2013;53:251–9.
[30] Alzahrani EO, Zenkour AM, Sobhy M. Small scale effect on hygro-thermo-
mechanical bending of nanoplates embedded in an elastic medium 2013;105
(Compos Struct):163–72.
[31] Ke LL, Wang YS, Yang J, Kitipornchai S. Free vibration of size-dependent
magneto-electro-elastic nanoplates based on the nonlocal theory. Acta Mech
Sin 2014;30(4):516–25.
[32] Sobhy M. Thermomechanical bending and free vibration of single-layered
graphene sheets embedded in an elastic medium. Physica E 2014;56:400–9.
979
[33] Sobhy M. Generalized two-variable plate theory for multi-layered graphene
sheets with arbitrary boundary conditions. Acta Mech 2014;225:2521–38.
[34] Sobhy M. Natural frequency and buckling of orthotropic nanoplates resting on
two-parameter elastic foundations with various boundary conditions. J Mech
2014;30(5):443–53.
[35] Sobhy M. Levy-type solution for bending of single-layered graphene sheets in
thermal environment using the two-variable plate theory. Int J Mech Sci
2015;90:171–8.
[36] Sobhy M. Hygrothermal deformation of orthotropic nanoplates based on the
state-space concept. Compos Part B 2015;79:224–35.
ß imsßek M. Nonlocal effects in the free longitudinal vibration of axially
[37] S
functionally graded tapered nanorods. Comput Mater Sci 2012;61:257–65.
ß imsßek M, Yurtcu HH. Analytical solutions for bending and buckling of
[38] S
functionally graded nanobeams based on the nonlocal Timoshenko beam
theory. Compos Struct 2013;97. 378-6..
[39] Natarajan S, Chakraborty S, Thangavel M, Bordas S, Rabczuk T. Size-dependent
free flexural vibration behavior of functionally graded nanoplates. Comput
Mater Sci 2012;65:74–80.
[40] Eltaher MA, Emam SA, Mahmoud FF. Free vibration analysis of functionally
graded size-dependent nanobeams. Appl Math Comput 2012;218
(14):7406–20.
[41] Hashemi SH, Bedroud M, Nazemnezhad R. An exact analytical solution for free
vibration of functionally graded circular/annular Mindlin nanoplates via
nonlocal elasticity. Compos Struct 2013;103:108–18.
[42] Nazemnezhad R, Hashemi SH. Nonlocal nonlinear free vibration of functionally
graded nanobeams. Comp Struct 2014;110:192–9.
[43] Hashemi SH, Nazemnezhad R, Bedroud M. Surface effects on nonlinear free
vibration of functionally graded nanobeams using nonlocal elasticity. Appl
Math Model 2014;38(14):3538–53.
[44] Hashemi SH, Nahas I, Fakher M, Nazemnezhad R. Surface effects on free
vibration of piezoelectric functionally graded nanobeams using nonlocal
elasticity. Acta Mech 2014;225(6):1555–64.
[45] Mindlin RD. Influence of rotatory inertia and shear in flexural motion of
isotropic elastic plates. J Appl Mech 1951;18:1031–6.
[46] Reddy JN. A refined nonlinear theory of plates with transverse shear
deformation. Int J Solids Struct 1984;20(9):881–96.
[47] Reddy JN. Analysis of functionally graded plates. Int J Numer Methods Eng
2000;47:663–84.
[48] Touratier M. An efficient standard plate theory. Int J Eng Sci 1991;29
(8):901–16.
[49] Soldatos KP. A transverse shear deformation theory for homogeneous
monoclinic plates. Acta Mech 1992;94:195–200.
[50] Karama M, Afaq KS, Mistou S. Mechanical behaviour of laminated composite
beam by new multi-layered laminated composite structures model with
transverse shear stress continuity. Int J Solids Struct 2003;40:1525–46.
[51] Zenkour AM. Analytical solution for bending of cross-ply laminated plates
under thermo-mechanical loading. Compos Struct 2004;65:367–79.
[52] Zenkour AM, Sobhy M. Elastic foundation analysis of uniformly loaded
functionally graded viscoelastic sandwich plates. J Mech 2012;28(3):439–52.
[53] Zenkour AM, Sobhy M. Dynamic bending response of thermoelastic
functionally graded plates resting on elastic foundations. Aerosp Sci Technol
2013;29:7–17.
[54] Shimpi RP. Refined plate theory and its variants. AIAA J 2002;40:137–46.
[55] Shimpi RP, Patel HG. Free vibrations of plate using two variable refined plate
theory. J Sound Vib 2006;296:979–99.
[56] Thai HT. A nonlocal beam theory for bending, buckling, and vibration of
nanobeams. Int J Eng Sci 2012;52:56–64.
[57] Malekzadeh P, Shojaee M. Free vibration of nanoplates based on a nonlocal
two-variable refined plate theory. Compos Struct 2013;95:443–52.
[58] Narendar S. Buckling analysis of micro-/nano-scale plates based on two-
variable refined plate theory incorporating nonlocal scale effects. Compos
Struct 2011;93(12):3093–103.
[59] Narendar S, Gopalakrishnan S. Scale effects on buckling analysis of orthotropic
nanoplates based on nonlocal two-variable refined plate theory. Acta Mech
2012;223(2):395–413.
[60] Mechab I, Atmane HA, Tounsi A, Belhadj HA. A two variable refined plate
theory for the bending analysis of functionally graded plates. Acta Mech Sin
2010;26(6):941–9.
[61] Benachour A, Tahar HD, Atmane HA, Tounsi A, Ahmed MS. A four variable
refined plate theory for free vibrations of functionally graded plates with
arbitrary gradient. Compos Part B 2011;42(6):1386–94.
[62] El Meiche N, Tounsi A, Ziane N, Mechab I. A new hyperbolic shear deformation
theory for buckling and vibration of functionally graded sandwich plate. Int J
Mech Sci 2011;53(4):237–47.
[63] Bourada M, Tounsi A, Houari MSA. A new four-variable refined plate theory for
thermal buckling analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates. J Sandw
Struct Mater 2012;14(1):5–33.
[64] Tounsi A, Houari MSA, Benyoucef S. A refined trigonometric shear deformation
theory for thermoelastic bending of functionally graded sandwich plates.
Aerosp Sci Technol 2013;24(1):209–20.
[65] Thai HT, Choi DH. An efficient and simple refined theory for buckling analysis
of functionally graded plates. Appl Math Model 2012;36(3):1008–22.
[66] Thai HT, Vo TP. A new sinusoidal shear deformation theory for bending,
buckling, and vibration of functionally graded plates. Appl Math Model
2013;37(5):3269–81.
980 M. Sobhy / Composite Structures 134 (2015) 966–980
[67] Zenkour AM. A comprehensive analysis of functionally graded sandwich
plates: Part 2 – Buckling and free vibration. Int J Solids Struct
2005;42:5224–58.
[68] Bhangale RK, Ganesan N. Thermoelastic buckling and vibration behavior of
functionally graded sandwich beam with constrained viscoelastic core. J Sound
Vib 2006;295:294–316.
[69] Shen HS. Thermal postbuckling behavior of shear deformable FGM plates with
temperature-dependent properties. Int J Mech Sci 2007;49:466–78.
[70] Shen HS, Li SR. Postbuckling of sandwich plates with FGM face sheets and
temperature-dependent properties. Compos Part B 2008;39:332–44.
[71] Zenkour AM, Sobhy M. Thermal buckling of various types of FGM sandwich
plates. Compos Struct 2010;93:93–102.
[72] Harris GZ. The buckling and post-buckling behaviour of composite plates
under biaxial loading. Int J Mech Sci 1975;17(3):187–202.
[73] Singh G, Rao GV, Iyengar NGR. Bifurcation buckling of unsymmetrically
laminated plates. Compos Eng 1994;4(2):181–94.
[74] Leissa AW. Conditions for laminated plates to remain flat under in-plane
loading. Compos Struct 1986;6:261–70.
[75] Qatu MS, Leissa AW. Buckling or transverse deflections of unsymmetrically
laminated plates subjected to in-plane loads. AIAA J 1993;31:189–94.
[76] Liew KM, Yang J, Kitipornchai S. Postbuckling of piezoelectric FGM plates
subject to thermo-electro-mechanical loading. Int J Solids Struct
2003;40:3869–92.
[77] Liew KM, Yang J, Kitipornchai S. Thermal post-buckling of laminated plates
comprising functionally graded materials with temperature-dependent
properties. J Appl Mech ASME 2004;71:839–50.
[78] Yang J, Shen HS. Nonlinear analysis of functionally graded plates under
transverse and in-plane loads. Int J Non-Linear Mech 2003;38:467–82.
[79] Wang L, Hu H. Flexural wave propagation in single-walled carbon nanotubes.
Phys Rev B 2005;71(19):195412.
[80] Zhang YQ, Liu GR, Han X. Transverse vibrations of double-walled carbon
nanotubes under compressive axial load. Phys Lett A 2005;340(1):258–66.
[81] Wang Q, Wang CM. The constitutive relation and small scale parameter of
nonlocal continuum mechanics for modelling carbon nanotubes.
Nanotechnology 2007;18(7):075702.
[82] Carrera E, Brischetto S, Robaldo A. Variable kinematic model for the analysis of
functionally graded material plates. AIAA J 2008;46:194–203.
[83] Zenkour AM. Generalized shear deformation theory for bending analysis of
functionally graded plates. Appl Math Model 2006;30:67–84.
[84] Ameur M, Tounsi A, Mechab I, Bedia EA. A new trigonometric shear
deformation theory for bending analysis of functionally graded plates resting
on elastic foundations. KSCE J Civil Eng 2011;15:1405–14.
[85] Baferani AH, Saidi AR, Ehteshami H. Accurate solution for free vibration
analysis of functionally graded thick rectangular plates resting on elastic
foundation. Compos Struct 2011;93(7):1842–53.