Buckling Analysis of Nonuniform Nanowires under Axial Compression

The buckling behavior of a nonuniform nanowire under axial compression is studied using the nonlocal elasticity theory. We obtain an analytical expression for calculating the critical buckling load of the nanowire. The expression can be simplified for the special case of the nanowire with uniform cross section. Based on the simplified equation, the analyzed result agrees with the previous work. In addition, the influences of nanolocal and surface effects on the critical buckling load of the nonuniform nanowire are analyzed by using the Rayleigh-Ritz method. According to the analyzed result, it can be found that the critical buckling load decreases with an increase of nonlocal parameter. Furthermore, the surface effects are more significant for a slender nanowire with a higher diameter ratio.