Nonlinear flexure mechanics of beams: stress gradient and nonlocal integral theory

In order to study the intrinsic size-effects, the stress gradient theory is implemented to a nano-scale beam model in nonlinear flexure. The nonlocal integral elasticity model is considered as a suitable counterpart to examine the softening behavior of nano-beams. Reissner variational principle is extended consistent with the stress gradient theory and applied to establish the differential, constitutive and boundary conditions of a nano-sized beam in nonlinear flexure. The nonlinear integro-differential and boundary conditions of inflected beams in the framework of the nonlocal integral elasticity are determined utilizing the total elastic strain energy formulation. A practical series solution approach in terms of Chebyshev polynomials is introduced to appropriately estimate the kinematic and kinetic field variables. A softening structural behavior is observed in the flexure of the stress gradient and the nonlocal beam in terms of the characteristic parameter and the smaller-is-softer phenomenon is, therefore, confirmed. The flexural response associated with the stress gradient theory is demonstrated to be in excellent agreement with the counterpart results of the nonlocal elasticity model equipped with the Helmholtz kernel function. The nonlocal elasticity theory endowed with the Error kernel function is illustrated to underestimate the flexural results of the stress gradient beam model. Detected numerical benchmark can be efficiently exploited for structural design and optimization of pioneering nano-engineering devices broadly utilized in advanced nano-electro-mechanical systems.