Nonlinear bending analysis of nanoplates made of FGMs based on the most general strain gradient model and 3D elasticity theory

. In this article, the nonlinear bending behavior of rectangular nanoplates made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) is studied in the context of a variational formulation. To capture size effects, the most general form of strain gradient theory is employed. The three-dimensional (3D) elasticity theory is used for modeling the nanoplate. The governing equations are also derived in the discretized weak form using the variational differential quadrature (VDQ) method. Finally, the solution of the nonlinear bending problem is obtained by the pseudo arc-length continuation algorithm. In the numerical results, the effects of thickness-to-length scale ratio, side length-to-thickness ratio and material gradient index on the nonlinear bending response of nanoplates subject to different types of boundary conditions are analyzed. Moreover, a comparison is provided between the predictions of various strain gradient-based theories.