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

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.     

Higher-order shear beam theories and enriched continuum

The buckling of higher-order shear beam-columns is studied in the light of enriched continuum. We show the equivalence between the enriched kinematics of usual higher-order shear beam theories with the nonlocal and gradient nature of the associated constitutive law. These equivalences are useful for a hierarchical classification of usual beam theories comprising Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Timoshenko and third-order shear beam theories. A consistent variationnally presentation is derived for all generic theories, leading to meaningful buckling solutions. It is shown that Timoshenko or some other higher-order shear theories can be considered as nonlocal or gradient Euler-Bernoulli theories. The buckling problem of a third-order shear beam-column is analytically studied and treated in the framework of gradient elasticity Timoshenko theory. Some different gradient elasticity Timoshenko models are presented at the end of the paper with available buckling solutions for repetitive structures and microstructured beams.     

On the truth of nanoscale for nanobeams based on nonlocal elastic stress field theory： equilibrium, governing equation and static deflection

This paper has successfully addressed three critical but overlooked issues in nonlocal elastic stress field theory for nanobeams： （i） why does the presence of increasing nonlocal effects induce reduced nanostructural stiffness in many, but not consistently for all, cases of study, i.e., increasing static deflection, decreasing natural frequency and decreasing buckling load, although physical intuition according to the nonlocal elasticity field theory first established by Eringen tells otherwise？ （ii） the intriguing conclusion that nanoscale effects are missing in the solutions in many exemplary cases of study, e.g., bending deflection of a cantilever nanobeam with a point load at its tip; and （iii） the non-existence of additional higher-order boundary conditions for a higher-order governing differential equation. Applying the nonlocal elasticity field theory in nanomechanics and an exact variational principal approach, we derive the new equilibrium conditions, do- main governing differential equation and boundary conditions for bending of nanobeams. These equations and conditions involve essential higher-order differential terms which are opposite in sign with respect to the previously studies in the statics and dynamics of nonlocal nano-structures. The difference in higher-order terms results in reverse trends of nanoscale effects with respect to the conclusion of this paper. Effectively, this paper reports new equilibrium conditions, governing differential equation and boundary condi- tions and the true basic static responses for bending of nanobeams. It is also concluded that the widely accepted equilibrium conditions of nonlocal nanostructures are in fact not in equilibrium, but they can be made perfect should the nonlocal bending moment be replaced by an effective nonlocal bending moment. These conclusions are substantiated, in a general sense, by other approaches in nanostructural models such as strain gradient theory, modified couple stress models and experiments.     

A classification of higher-order strain-gradient models in damage mechanics

Summary In a previous contribution, higher-order strain-gradient models for linear elasticity have been studied in statics and dynamics [9]. In this paper, the extension towards damage mechanics is made. A damage model is derived from a discrete microstructure. In the homogenisation process, higher-order strain gradients appear both in the linear and in the nonlinear parts of the constitutive equation. Similar to the elastic models, stabilising and destabilising gradients can be distinguished. The stabilising or destabilising effect of each gradient term is determined. Opposite (competing) effects on the stability are found for the gradients of the elastic and the gradients in the damage response. Various truncations of the two strain-gradient series are studied, with the aim to arrive at a continuum model that fulfills the following requirements (i) it is derivable from a discrete microstructure, (ii) it is able to describe wave dispersion in elastic and damaging media properly, and (iii) it can be used to model strain-softening phenomena, i.e. it is a regularised model. The response of the various models is studied analytically and numerically. For the analytical investigation, dispersive waves are studied and critical wave lengths are derived. Numerical simulations are carried out with the element-free Galerkin method. This combined analytical/numerical approach allows to establish the role of the critical wave length both for mechanically stable and mechanically unstable models. For stabilised models, the critical wave length sets the width of the damaging zone. On the other hand, for destabilised models, the critical wave length sets a periodicity in the response that leads to divergence of the numerical scheme. The influence of the individual gradient terms on the stability and the structural ductility is verified in static and dynamic analyses. We thank Akke Suiker and Andrei Metrikine of Delft University of Technology for stimulating discussions throughout this study.     

On canonical bending relationships for plates

In recent years, a series of papers have appeared on algebraic relationships between the solutions (e.g., deflections, buckling loads and frequencies) of a given higher-order plate theory and the classical plate theory. The bending relationships, for example, can be used to generate the transverse deflection of a plate according to the particular higher-order theory from the known deflection of the same problem according to the classical plate theory. In the present study relationships between the bending solutions of several higher-order plate theories and the classical plate theory are obtained in a canonical form (i.e., one set of relationships contain several theories and they can be specialized to a specific theory by assigning values to the constants appearing in the relationships). Numerical examples of bending solutions for rectangular plates with various boundary conditions are presented to show how the relations can be used to determine the deflections and bending moments for various theories. The relationships are validated by comparing the numerical results obtained using the relationships for the Mindlin plate theory against those computed using the ABAQUS finite element program.     

Micromechanics based second gradient continuum theory for shear band modeling in cohesive granular materials following damage elasticity

Gradient theories, as a regularized continuum mechanics approach, have found wide applications for modeling strain localization failure process. This paper presents a second gradient stress–strain damage elasticity theory based upon the method of virtual power. The theory considers the strain gradient and its conjugated double stresses. Instead of introducing an intrinsic material length scale into the constitutive law in an ad hoc fashion, a microstructural granular mechanics approach is applied to derive the higher-order constitutive coefficients such that the internal length scale parameter reflects the natural granularity of the underlying material microstructure. The derivations of the required damage constitutive relationships, the strong form governing equations as well as its weak form for the second gradient model are described. The recently popularized Element-Free Galerkin (EFG) method is then employed to discretize the weak form equilibrium equation for accommodating the resultant higher-order continuity requirements and further handling the mesh sensitivity problem. Numerical examples for shear band simulations show that the proposed second gradient continuum model can produce stable, accurate as well as mesh-size independent solutions without a priori assumption of the shear band path.     

Non-linear theories of beams and plates accounting for moderate rotations and material length scales

The primary objective of this paper is to formulate the governing equations of shear deformable beams and plates that account for moderate rotations and microstructural material length scales. This is done using two different approaches: (1) a modified von Kármán non-linear theory with modified couple stress model and (2) a gradient elasticity theory of fully constrained finitely deforming hyperelastic cosserat continuum where the directors are constrained to rotate with the body rotation. Such theories would be useful in determining the response of elastic continua, for example, consisting of embedded stiff short fibers or inclusions and that accounts for certain longer range interactions. Unlike a conventional approach based on postulating additional balance laws or ad hoc addition of terms to the strain energy functional, the approaches presented here extend existing ideas to thermodynamically consistent models. Two major ideas introduced are: (1) inclusion of the same order terms in the strain–displacement relations as those in the conventional von Kármán non-linear strains and (2) the use of the polar decomposition theorem as a constraint and a representation for finite rotations in terms of displacement gradients for large deformation beam and plate theories. Classical couple stress theory is recovered for small strains from the ideas expressed in (1) and (2). As a part of this development, an overview of Eringen׳s non-local, Mindlin׳s modified couple stress theory, and the gradient elasticity theory of Srinivasa–Reddy is presented.     

Nonlinear vibration analysis of micro-plates based on strain gradient elasticity theory

In this study, non-linear free vibration of micro-plates based on strain gradient elasticity theory is investigated. A general form of Mindlin’s first-strain gradient elasticity theory is employed to obtain a general Kirchhoff micro-plate formulation. The von Karman strain tensor is used to capture the geometric non-linearity. The governing equations of motion and boundary conditions are obtained in a variational framework. The Homotopy analysis method is employed to obtain an accurate analytical expression for the non-linear natural frequency of vibration. For some specific values of the gradient-based material parameters, the general plate formulation can be reduced to those based on some special forms of strain gradient elasticity theory. Accordingly, three different micro-plate formulations are introduced, which are based on three special strain gradient elasticity theories. It is found that both geometric non-linearity and size effect increase the natural frequency of vibration. In a micro-plate having a thickness comparable with the material length scale parameter, the strain gradient effect on increasing the non-linear natural frequency is higher than that of the geometric non-linearity. By increasing the plate thickness, the strain gradient effect decreases or even diminishes. In this case, geometric non-linearity plays the main role on increasing the natural frequency of vibration. In addition, it is shown that for micro-plates with some specific thickness to length scale parameter ratios, both geometric non-linearity and size effect have significant role on increasing the frequency of non-linear vibration.     

考虑电场梯度的挠曲电纳米板弯曲性能分析

具有尺度依赖的挠曲电效应在器件的设计中扮演着越来越关键的角色, 研究人员在微纳米尺度多物理场分析中进行了大量工作. 基于考虑挠曲电和电场梯度效应的弹性介电材料非经典理论, 以二维纳米板为例, 通过理论建模, 分析纳米板在弯曲问题中的力?电耦合行为. 根据Mindlin假设给出板的位移场和电势场的一阶截断, 选取板的材料为立方晶体(m3m点群), 将广义三维本构方程代入到高阶应力、高阶偶应力、高阶电位移和高阶电四极矩的表达式中得到相应的二维本构方程, 利用弹性电介质变分原理得到板的控制方程和边界上的线积分等式, 分别将二维本构方程和边界上外法线的方向余弦代入, 得到板的高阶弯曲方程、高阶电势方程以及对应的四边简支边界条件. 利用四边简支矩形板的高阶弯曲方程、高阶电势方程和相应的边界条件, 根据Navier解理论, 求解纳米板的电势场, 重点分析电场梯度对板内一阶电势的影响. 数值计算结果表明: 电场梯度对纳米板中由挠曲电效应产生的一阶电势有削弱作用, 且材料参数g₁₁越大, 一阶电势受到的削弱越大; 同时电场梯度的存在消除了纳米板在受横向集中载荷作用时一阶电势的奇异性. 本文是对具有挠曲电效应和电场梯度效应的纳米板结构分析理论的一个扩展, 为微纳米尺度器件的结构设计提供参考.      

Energy theorems and the J-integral in dipolar gradient elasticity

Within the framework of Mindlin’s dipolar gradient elasticity, general energy theorems are proved in this work. These are the theorem of minimum potential energy, the theorem of minimum complementary potential energy, a variational principle analogous to that of the Hellinger–Reissner principle in classical theory, two theorems analogous to those of Castigliano and Engesser in classical theory, a uniqueness theorem of the Kirchhoff–Neumann type, and a reciprocal theorem. These results can be of importance to computational methods for analyzing practical problems. In addition, the J-integral of fracture mechanics is derived within the same framework. The new form of the J-integral is identified with the energy release rate at the tip of a growing crack and its path-independence is proved.The theory of dipolar gradient elasticity derives from considerations of microstructure in elastic continua [Mindlin, R.D., 1964. Microstructure in linear elasticity. Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 16, 51–78] and is appropriate to model materials with periodic structure. According to this theory, the strain-energy density assumes the form of a positive-definite function of the strain (as in classical elasticity) and the second gradient of the displacement (additional term). Specific cases of the general theory considered here are the well-known theory of couple-stress elasticity and the recently popularized theory of strain-gradient elasticity. The latter case is also treated in the present study.     

Higher-order shear deformable theories for flexure of sandwich plates—Finite element evaluations

A simple isoparametric finite element formulation based on a higher-order displacement model for flexure analysis of multilayer symmetric sandwich plates is presented. The assumed displacement model accounts for non-linear variation of inplane displacements and constant variation of transverse displacement through the plate thickness. Further, the present formulation does not require the fictitious shear correction coefficient(s) generally associated with the first-order shear deformable theories. Two sandwich plate theories are developed: one in which the free shear stress conditions on the top and bottom bounding planes are imposed and another, in which such conditions are not imposed. The validity of the present development(s) is established through, numerical evaluations for deflections/stresses/stress-resultants and their comparisons with the available three-dimensional analyses/closed-form/other finite element solutions. Comparison of results from thin plate. Mindlin and present analyses with the exact three-dimensional analyses yields some important conclusions regarding the effects of the assumptions made in the CPT and Mindlin type theories. The comparative study further establishes the necessity of a higher-order shear deformable theory incorporating warping of the cross-section particularly for sandwich plates.     

One-dimensional dynamically consistent gradient elasticity models derived from a discrete microstructure: Part 1: Generic formulation

This paper is the first in a series of two that focus on gradient elasticity models derived from a discrete microstructure. In this first paper, a new continualization method is proposed in which each higher-order stiffness term is accompanied by a higher-order inertia term. As such, the resulting models are dynamically consistent. A new parameter is introduced that accounts for the nonlocal interaction between variables of the discrete model and of the continuous model. When this parameter is set to proper values, physically realistic behavior is obtained in statics as well as in dynamics. In this sense, the proposed methodology is superior to earlier approaches to derive gradient elasticity models, in which anomalies in the dynamic behavior have been found. A generic formulation of field equations and boundary conditions is given based on Hamilton's principle. In the second paper, analytical and numerical results of static and dynamic response of the second-order model and the fourth-order model will be treated.     

Gradient Elasticity Based on Laplacians of Stress and Strain

Using Mindlin’s general microstructural elasticity theory we derive models pertaining to a gradient elasticity based on both Laplacians of stress and strain. We prove that such Laplacian-based gradient elasticity models can also be derived on the basis of a thermodynamically consistent gradient elasticity. The proof relies upon a non-conventional thermodynamic framework. It is shown that a general analogy between linear viscoelastic solids based on spring and dashpot elements and specific gradient elasticity models can be established. The governing differential equations of motion of resulting gradient elasticity models are then formulated. By employing energy related arguments, conditions on the material parameters are derived and the appropriate concomitant boundary conditions are specified for both approaches. Finally, the considered models are compared to each other with reference to one-dimensional dispersion relations.     

Uniqueness for plane crack problems in dipolar gradient elasticity and in couple-stress elasticity

The present work deals with the uniqueness theorem for plane crack problems in solids characterized by dipolar gradient elasticity. The theory of gradient elasticity derives from considerations of microstructure in elastic continua [Mindlin, R.D., 1964. Micro-structure in linear elasticity. Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 16, 51–78] and is appropriate to model materials with periodic structure. According to this theory, the strain-energy density assumes the form of a positive-definite function of the strain (as in classical elasticity) and the second gradient of the displacement (additional term). Specific cases of the general theory employed here are the well-known theory of couple-stress elasticity and the recently popularized theory of strain-gradient elasticity. These cases are also treated in the present study. We consider an anisotropic material response of the cracked plane body, within the linear version of gradient elasticity, and conditions of plane-strain or anti-plane strain. It is emphasized that, for crack problems in general, a uniqueness theorem more extended than the standard Kirchhoff theorem is needed because of the singular behavior of the solutions at the crack tips. Such a theorem will necessarily impose certain restrictions on the behavior of the fields in the vicinity of crack tips. In standard elasticity, a theorem was indeed established by Knowles and Pucik [Knowles, J.K., Pucik, T.A., 1973. Uniqueness for plane crack problems in linear elastostatics. J. Elast. 3, 155–160], who showed that the necessary conditions for solution uniqueness are a bounded displacement field and a bounded body-force field. In our study, we show that the additional (to the two previous conditions) requirement of a bounded displacement-gradient field in the vicinity of the crack tips guarantees uniqueness within the general form of the theory of dipolar gradient elasticity. In the specific cases of couple-stress elasticity and pure strain-gradient elasticity, the additional requirement is less stringent. This only involves a bounded rotation field for the first case and a bounded strain field for the second case.     

Micro-to-macro transitions for continua with surface structure at the microscale

A geometrically non-linear framework for micro-to-macro transitions is developed that accounts for the effect of size at the microscopic scale. This is done by endowing the surfaces of the microscopic features with their own (energetic) structure using the theory of surface elasticity. Following a standard first-order ansatz on the microscopic motion in terms of the macroscopic deformation gradient, a Hill-type averaging condition is used to link the two scales. The surface elasticity theory introduces two additional microscopic length scales: the ratio of the bulk volume to the energetic surface area, and the ratio of the surface and bulk Helmholtz energies. The influence of these microscopic length scales is elucidated via a series of numerical examples performed using the finite element method.     

Derivation of Mindlin’s first and second strain gradient elastic theory via simple lattice and continuum models

Mindlin, in his celebrated papers of Arch. Rat. Mech. Anal. 16, 51–78, 1964 and Int. J. Solids Struct. 1, 417–438, 1965, proposed two enhanced strain gradient elastic theories to describe linear elastic behavior of isotropic materials with micro-structural effects. Since then, many works dealing with strain gradient elastic theories, derived either from lattice models or homogenization approaches, have appeared in the literature. Although elegant, none of them reproduces entirely the equation of motion as well as the classical and non-classical boundary conditions appearing in Mindlin theory, in terms of the considered lattice or continuum unit cell. Furthermore, no lattice or continuum models that confirm the second gradient elastic theory of Mindlin have been reported in the literature. The present work demonstrates two simple one dimensional models that conclude to first and second strain gradient elastic theories being identical to the corresponding ones proposed by Mindlin. The first is based on the standard continualization of the equation of motion taken for a sequence of mass-spring lattices, while the second one exploits average processes valid in continuum mechanics. Furthermore, Mindlin developed his theory by adding new terms in the expressions of potential and kinetic energy and introducing intrinsic micro-structural parameter without however providing explicit expressions that correlate micro-structure with macro-structure. This is accomplished in the present work where in both models the derived internal length scale parameters are correlated to the size of the considered unit cell.     

Dislocation-based micropolar single crystal plasticity: Comparison of multi- and single criterion theories

Two new formulations of micropolar single crystal plasticity are presented within a geometrically linear setting. The construction of yield criteria and flow rules for generalized continuum theories with higher-order stresses can be done in one of two ways: (i) a single criterion can be introduced in terms of a combined equivalent stress and inelastic rate or (ii) or individual criteria can be specified for each conjugate stress/inelastic kinematic rate pair, a so-called multi-criterion theory. Both single and multi-criterion theories are developed and discussed within the context of dislocation-based constitutive models. Parallels and distinctions are made between the proposed theories and some of the alternative generalized crystal plasticity models that can be found in the literature. Parametric numerical simulations of a constrained thin film subjected to simple shear are conducted via finite element analysis using a simplified 2-D version of the fully 3-D theory to highlight the influence of specific model components on the resulting deformation under both loading and unloading conditions. The deformation behavior is quantified in terms of the average stress-strain response and the local shear strain and geometrically necessary dislocation density distributions. It is demonstrated that micropolar single crystal plasticity can qualitatively capture the same range of behaviors as slip gradient-based models, while offering a simpler numerical implementation and without introducing plastic slip rates as generalized traction-conjugate velocities subject to an additional microforce balance.     

Mathematical construction of a Reissner–Mindlin plate theory for composite laminates

A Reissner–Mindlin theory for composite laminates without invoking ad hoc kinematic assumptions is constructed using the variational-asymptotic method. Instead of assuming a priori the distribution of three-dimensional displacements in terms of two-dimensional plate displacements as what is usually done in typical plate theories, an exact intrinsic formulation has been achieved by introducing unknown three-dimensional warping functions. Then the variational-asymptotic method is applied to systematically decouple the original three-dimensional problem into a one-dimensional through-the-thickness analysis and a two-dimensional plate analysis. The resulting theory is an equivalent single-layer Reissner–Mindlin theory with an excellent accuracy comparable to that of higher-order, layer-wise theories. The present work is extended from the previous theory developed by the writer and his co-workers with several sizable contributions: (a) six more constants (33 in total) are introduced to allow maximum freedom to transform the asymptotically correct energy into a Reissner–Mindlin model; (b) the semi-definite programming technique is used to seek the optimum Reissner–Mindlin model. Furthermore, it is proved the first time that the recovered three-dimensional quantities exactly satisfy the continuity conditions on the interface between different layers and traction boundary conditions on the bottom and top surfaces. It is also shown that two of the equilibrium equations of three-dimensional elasticity can be satisfied asymptotically, and the third one can be satisfied approximately so that the difference between the Reissner–Mindlin model and the second-order asymptotical model can be minimized. Numerical examples are presented to compare with the exact solution as well as the classical lamination theory and the first-order shear-deformation theory, demonstrating that the present theory has an excellent agreement with the exact solution.