Experiments and theory in strain gradient elasticity

Conventional strain-based mechanics theory does not account for contributions from strain gradients. Failure to include strain gradient contributions can lead to underestimates of stresses and size-dependent behaviors in small-scale structures. In this paper, a new set of higher-order metrics is developed to characterize strain gradient behaviors. This set enables the application of the higher-order equilibrium conditions to strain gradient elasticity theory and reduces the number of independent elastic length scale parameters from five to three. On the basis of this new strain gradient theory, a strain gradient elastic bending theory for plane-strain beams is developed. Solutions for cantilever bending with a moment and line force applied at the free end are constructed based on the new higher-order bending theory. In classical bending theory, the normalized bending rigidity is independent of the length and thickness of the beam. In the solutions developed from the higher-order bending theory, the normalized higher-order bending rigidity has a new dependence on the thickness of the beam and on a higher-order bending parameter, b_h. To determine the significance of the size dependence, we fabricated micron-sized beams and conducted bending tests using a nanoindenter. We found that the normalized beam rigidity exhibited an inverse squared dependence on the beam's thickness as predicted by the strain gradient elastic bending theory, and that the higher-order bending parameter, b_h, is on the micron-scale. Potential errors from the experiments, model and fabrication were estimated and determined to be small relative to the observed increase in beam's bending rigidity. The present results indicate that the elastic strain gradient effect is significant in elastic deformation of small-scale structures.     

Couple stress based strain gradient theory for elasticity

The deformation behavior of materials in the micron scale has been experimentally shown to be size dependent. In the absence of stretch and dilatation gradients, the size dependence can be explained using classical couple stress theory in which the full curvature tensor is used as deformation measures in addition to the conventional strain measures. In the couple stress theory formulation, only conventional equilibrium relations of forces and moments of forces are used. The couple's association with position is arbitrary. In this paper, an additional equilibrium relation is developed to govern the behavior of the couples. The relation constrained the couple stress tensor to be symmetric, and the symmetric curvature tensor became the only properly conjugated high order strain measures in the theory to have a real contribution to the total strain energy of the system. On the basis of this modification, a linear elastic model for isotropic materials is developed. The torsion of a cylindrical bar and the pure bending of a flat plate of infinite width are analyzed to illustrate the effect of the modification.     

Two optimal control problems of finite elasticity theory

The problem of determining the control force that will bring, by radial deformation, (a) a circular cylinder and (b) a thin spherical shell from one configuration to the other, in a minimum time, is solved. The material is assumed to be incompressible and elastic of the Mooney-Rivlin type. Two numerical examples are presented.     

Boundary integral equations for inverse problems in the elasticity theory

The paper is concerned with the application of the boundary integral equation method for the holomorphic vector to nonclassical problems in the static theory of elasticity. Problems are considered for the case when on part of a body conditions are overvalued, i.e. the vectors of displacements and loads are prescribed, and on the other part of the body conditions are unknown (so-called (u, p) problem). It is shown that the method proposed is efficient and can be applied to the problems of computer defectoscopy in stationary potential fields.     

Solution of statistical problems in elasticity theory in the singular approximation

A method of calculating elastic fields and effective moduli of microheterogeneous solids is developed in the random field theory. The solution is obtained in the form of an operator series, each term of which is constructed on the basis of the regular component of the second derivative tensor of the equilibrium Green function. The zeroth approximation of such a series consists of the local part of the interaction between inhomogeneity grains. The possibilities of the method are illustrated on the example of an isotropic mixture of two isotropic components.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 1, pp. 98–102, January–February, 1972.     

Buckling analysis of cylindrical thin-shells using strain gradient elasticity theory

The stability problem of cylindrical shells is addressed using higher-order continuum theories in a generalized framework. The length-scale effect which becomes prominent at microscale can be included in the continuum theory using gradient-based nonlocal theories such as the strain gradient elasticity theories. In this work, expressions for critical buckling stress under uniaxial compression are derived using an energy approach. The results are compared with the classical continuum theory, which can be obtained by setting the length-scale parameters to zero. A special case is obtained by setting two length scale parameters to zero. Thus, it is shown that both the couple stress theory and classical continuum theory forms a special case of the strain gradient theory. The effect of various parameters such as the shell-radius, shell-length, and length-scale parameters on the buckling stress are investigated. The dimensions and constants corresponding to that of a carbon nanotube, where the length-scale effect becomes prominent, is considered for this investigation.