In recent years there have been many papers that considered the effects of material length scales in the study of mechanics of solids at micro- and/or nano-scales There are a number of approaches and, among them, one set of papers deals with Eringen's differential nonlocal model and another deals with the strain gradient theories The modified couple stress theory, which also accounts for a material length scale, is a form of a strain gradient theory The large body of literature that has come into existence in the last several years has created significant confusion among researchers about the length scales that these various theories contain The present paper has the objective of establishing the fact that the length scales present in nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory describe two entirely different physical characteristics of materials and structures at nanoscale By using two principle kernel functions, the paper further presents a theory with application examples which relates the classical nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory and it results in a higher-order nonlocal strain gradient theory In this theory, a higher-order nonlocal strain gradient elasticity system which considers higher-order stress gradients and strain gradient nonlocality is proposed It is based on the nonlocal effects of the strain field and first gradient strain field This theory intends to generalize the classical nonlocal elasticity theory by introducing a higher-order strain tensor with nonlocality into the stored energy function The theory is distinctive because the classical nonlocal stress theory does not include nonlocality of higher-order stresses while the common strain gradient theory only considers local higher-order strain gradients without nonlocal effects in a global sense By establishing the constitutive relation within the thermodynamic framework, the governing equations of equilibrium and all boundary conditions are derived via the variational approach Two additional kinds of parameters, the higher-order nonlocal parameters and the nonlocal gradient length coefficients are introduced to account for the size-dependent characteristics of nonlocal gradient materials at nanoscale To illustrate its application values, the theory is applied for wave propagation in a nonlocal strain gradient system and the new dispersion relations derived are presented through examples for wave propagating in Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko nanobeams The numerical results based on the new nonlocal strain gradient theory reveal some new findings with respect to lattice dynamics and wave propagation experiment that could not be matched by both the classical nonlocal stress model and the contemporary strain gradient theory Thus, this higher-order nonlocal strain gradient model provides an explanation to some observations in the classical and nonlocal stress theories as well as the strain gradient theory in these aspects

A higher-order nonlocal elasticity and strain gradient theory and its applications in wave propagation

Electrically conductive polyethylene terephthalate/graphene nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding

A microstructure-dependent nonlinear Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories which account for through-thickness power-law variation of a two-constituent material are developed using the principle of virtual displacements. The formulation is based on a modified couple stress theory, power-law variation of the material, and the von Karman geometric nonlinearity. The model contains a material length scale parameter that can capture the size effect in a functionally graded material, unlike the classical Euler–Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories. The influence of the parameter on static bending, vibration and buckling is investigated. The theoretical developments presented herein also serve to develop finite element models and determine the effect of the geometric nonlinearity and microstructure-dependent constitutive relations on post-buckling response.

Microstructure-dependent couple stress theories of functionally graded beams

Nonlocal nonlinear formulations for bending of classical and shear deformation theories of beams and plates

A nonlocal beam theory for bending, buckling, and vibration of nanobeams

A microstructure-dependent Timoshenko beam model is developed using a variational formulation. It is based on a modified couple stress theory and Hamilton's principle. The new model contains a material length scale parameter and can capture the size effect, unlike the classical Timoshenko beam theory. Moreover, both bending and axial deformations are considered, and the Poisson effect is incorporated in the current model, which differ from existing Timoshenko beam models. The newly developed non-classical beam model recovers the classical Timoshenko beam model when the material length scale parameter and Poisson's ratio are both set to be zero. In addition, the current Timoshenko beam model reduces to a microstructure-dependent Bernoulli–Euler beam model when the normality assumption is reinstated, which also incorporates the Poisson effect and can be further reduced to the classical Bernoulli–Euler beam model. To illustrate the new Timoshenko beam model, the static bending and free vibration problems of a simply supported beam are solved by directly applying the formulas derived. The numerical results for the static bending problem reveal that both the deflection and rotation of the simply supported beam predicted by the new model are smaller than those predicted by the classical Timoshenko beam model. Also, the differences in both the deflection and rotation predicted by the two models are very large when the beam thickness is small, but they are diminishing with the increase of the beam thickness. Similar trends are observed for the free vibration problem, where it is shown that the natural frequency predicted by the new model is higher than that by the classical model, with the difference between them being significantly large only for very thin beams. These predicted trends of the size effect in beam bending at the micron scale agree with those observed experimentally. Finally, the Poisson effect on the beam deflection, rotation and natural frequency is found to be significant, which is especially true when the classical Timoshenko beam model is used. This indicates that the assumption of Poisson's effect being negligible, which is commonly used in existing beam theories, is inadequate and should be individually verified or simply abandoned in order to obtain more accurate and reliable results.

A microstructure-dependent Timoshenko beam model based on a modified couple stress theory

A non-classical Mindlin plate model is developed using a modified couple stress theory. The equations of motion and boundary conditions are obtained simultaneously through a variational formulation based on Hamilton’s principle. The new model contains a material length scale parameter and can capture the size effect, unlike the classical Mindlin plate theory. In addition, the current model considers both stretching and bending of the plate, which differs from the classical Mindlin plate model. It is shown that the newly developed Mindlin plate model recovers the non-classical Timoshenko beam model based on the modified couple stress theory as a special case. Also, the current non-classical plate model reduces to the Mindlin plate model based on classical elasticity when the material length scale parameter is set to be zero. To illustrate the new Mindlin plate model, analytical solutions for the static bending and free vibration problems of a simply supported plate are obtained by directly applying the general forms of the governing equations and boundary conditions of the model. The numerical results show that the deflection and rotations predicted by the new model are smaller than those predicted by the classical Mindlin plate model, while the natural frequency of the plate predicted by the former is higher than that by the latter. It is further seen that the differences between the two sets of predicted values are significantly large when the plate thickness is small, but they are diminishing with increasing plate thickness.

A non-classical Mindlin plate model based on a modified couple stress theory

A Nonclassical Reddy-Levinson Beam Model Based on a Modified Couple Stress Theory

A three-dimensional Monte Carlo model for electrically conductive polymer matrix composites filled with curved fibers

A solution for Eshelby's inclusion problem of a finite homogeneous isotropic elastic body containing an inclusion prescribed with a uniform eigenstrain and a uniform eigenstrain gradient is derived in a general form using a simplified strain gradient elasticity theory (SSGET). An extended Betti's reciprocal theorem and an extended Somigliana's identity based on the SSGET are proposed and utilized to solve the finite-domain inclusion problem. The solution for the disturbed displacement field is expressed in terms of the Green's function for an infinite three-dimensional elastic body in the SSGET. It contains a volume integral term and a surface integral term. The former is the same as that for the infinite-domain inclusion problem based on the SSGET, while the latter represents the boundary effect. The solution reduces to that of the infinite-domain inclusion problem when the boundary effect is not considered. The problem of a spherical inclusion embedded concentrically in a finite spherical elastic body is analytically solved by applying the general solution, with the Eshelby tensor and its volume average obtained in closed forms. This Eshelby tensor depends on the position, inclusion size, matrix size, and material length scale parameter, and, as a result, can capture the inclusion size and boundary effects, unlike existing Eshelby tensors. It reduces to the classical Eshelby tensor for the spherical inclusion in an infinite matrix if both the strain gradient and boundary effects are suppressed. Numerical results quantitatively show that the inclusion size effect can be quite large when the inclusion is very small and that the boundary effect can dominate when the inclusion volume fraction is very high. However, the inclusion size effect is diminishing as the inclusion becomes large enough, and the boundary effect is vanishing as the inclusion volume fraction gets sufficiently low.

Solution of Eshelby's inclusion problem with a bounded domain and Eshelby's tensor for a spherical inclusion in a finite spherical matrix based on a simplified strain gradient elasticity theory

H. M. Ma

Papers

A microstructure-dependent Timoshenko beam model based on a modified couple stress theory

A non-classical Mindlin plate model based on a modified couple stress theory

A Nonclassical Reddy-Levinson Beam Model Based on a Modified Couple Stress Theory

A three-dimensional Monte Carlo model for electrically conductive polymer matrix composites filled with curved fibers

Solution of Eshelby's inclusion problem with a bounded domain and Eshelby's tensor for a spherical inclusion in a finite spherical matrix based on a simplified strain gradient elasticity theory