Buckling analysis of functionally graded nanobeams based on a nonlocal third-order shear deformation theory

In this paper, a general third-order beam theory that accounts for nanostructure-dependent size effects and two-constituent material variation through the nano-beam thickness, i.e., functionally graded material (FGM) beam is presented. The material properties of FG nano-beams are assumed to vary through the thickness according to the power law. A detailed derivation of the equations of motion based on Eringen nonlocal theory using Hamilton's principle is presented, and a closed-form solution is derived for buckling behavior of the new model with various boundary conditions. The nonlocal elasticity theory includes a material length scale parameter that can capture the size effect in a functionally graded material. The proposed model is efficient in predicting the shear effect in FG nanobeams by applying third-order shear deformation theory. The proposed approach is validated by comparing the obtained results with benchmark results available in the literature. In the following, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the influences of the length scale parameter, gradient index, and length-to-thickness ratio on the buckling of FG nanobeams and the improvement on nonlocal third-order shear deformation theory comparing with the classical (local) beam model has been shown. It is found out that length scale parameter is crucial in studying the stability behavior of the nanobeams.