Nonlocal nonlinear analysis of nano-graphene sheets under compression using semi-Galerkin technique

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the nonlinear and post-buckling behaviors of orthotropic graphene sheets exposed to end-shortening strain by implementing a semi-Galerkin technique, as a new approach. The nano-sheets are regarded to be on elastic foundations and different out-of-plane boundary conditions are considered for graphene sheets. In addition, nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to achieve the post-buckling behavior related to the nano-sheets. In the present study, first, out-of-plane deflection function is considered as the only displacement field in the proposed technique, which is hypothesized by an appropriate deflected form. Then, the exact nonlocal stress function is calculated through a complete solution of the von-Karman compatibility equation. In the next step, Galerkin s method is used to solve the unknown parameters considered in the proposed technique. In addition, three different scenarios, which are significantly different with respect to concept, are used to satisfy the natural in-plane boundary conditions and completely attain the stress function. Finally, the post-buckling behavior of thin graphene sheets are evaluated for all three different scenarios, and the impacts of boundary conditions, polymer substrate, and nonlocal parameter are examined in each scenario.