Magnetic Interactions with Strain Gradient in Ultrathin Pr_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_(3) Films

Strain gradient is a normal phenomenon around a heterostructural interface in ultrathin film,and it is important to determine its effect on magnetic interactions to understand interfacial coupling.In this work,ultrathin Pr_(0.67)Sr_(0.33)MnO_(3)(PSMO)films on different substrates are studied.For PSMO film under different in-plane strain conditions,the saturated magnetization and Curie temperature can be qualitatively explained by double-exchange interaction and the Jahn-Teller distortion.However,the difference in the saturated magnetization with zero field cooling and 5 T field cooling is proportional to the strain gradient.Strain-gradient-induced structural disorder is proposed to enhance phonon-electron antiferromagnetic interactions and the corresponding antiferromagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition via a strong magnetic field during the field cooling process.A non-monotonous structural transition of the MnO_(6) octahedral rotation can enlarge the strain gradient in PSMO film on a SrTiO_(3) substrate.This work demonstrates the existence of the flexomagnetic effect in ultrathin manganite film,which should be applicable to other complex oxide systems.

Dynamic stability analysis of porous functionally graded beams under hygro-thermal loading using nonlocal strain gradient integral model

We present a study on the dynamic stability of porous functionally graded(PFG)beams under hygro-thermal loading.The variations of the properties of the beams across the beam thicknesses are described by the power-law model.Unlike most studies on this topic,we consider both the bending deformation of the beams and the hygro-thermal load as size-dependent,simultaneously,by adopting the equivalent differential forms of the well-posed nonlocal strain gradient integral theory(NSGIT)which are strictly equipped with a set of constitutive boundary conditions(CBCs),and through which both the stiffness-hardening and stiffness-softening effects of the structures can be observed with the length-scale parameters changed.All the variables presented in the differential problem formulation are discretized.The numerical solution of the dynamic instability region(DIR)of various bounded beams is then developed via the generalized differential quadrature method(GDQM).After verifying the present formulation and results,we examine the effects of different parameters such as the nonlocal/gradient length-scale parameters,the static force factor,the functionally graded(FG)parameter,and the porosity parameter on the DIR.Furthermore,the influence of considering the size-dependent hygro-thermal load is also presented.

On complete and micropolar-based incomplete strain gradient theories for periodic lattice structures

The micropolar(MP) and strain gradient(SG) continua have been generally adopted to investigate the relations between the macroscopic elastic constants and the microstructural geometric parameters. Owing to the fact that the microrotation in the MP theory can be expressed in terms of the displacement gradient components, we may regard the MP theory as a particular incomplete SG theory called the MPSG theory,compared with the existing SG theories which are deemed complete since all the SGs are included. Taking the triangular lattice comprising zigzag beams as an example, it is found that as the angle of the zigzag beams increases, the bending of the beams plays a more important role in the total strain energy, and the difference between the results by the two theories gradually decreases. Finally, the models are verified with the pure bending and simple shear of lattices by comparing with the results obtained by the finite element method(FEM)-based structure analyses.

Wave propagation responses of porous bi-directional functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic nanoshells via nonlocal strain gradient theory

This study examines the wave propagation characteristics for a bi-directional functional grading of barium titanate(BaTiO_(3)) and cobalt ferrite(CoFe_(2)O_(4)) porous nanoshells,the porosity distribution of which is simulated by the honeycomb-shaped symmetrical and asymmetrical distribution functions.The nonlocal strain gradient theory(NSGT) and first-order shear deformation theory are used to determine the size effect and shear deformation,respectively.Nonlocal governing equations are derived for the nanoshells by Hamilton's principle.The resulting dimensionless differential equations are solved by means of an analytical solution of the combined exponential function after dimensionless treatment.Finally,extensive parametric surveys are conducted to investigate the influence of diverse parameters,such as dimensionless scale parameters,radiusto-thickness ratios,bi-directional functionally graded(FG) indices,porosity coefficients,and dimensionless electromagnetic potentials on the wave propagation characteristics.Based on the analysis results,the effect of the dimensionless scale parameters on the dispersion relationship is found to be related to the ratio of the scale parameters.The wave propagation characteristics of nanoshells in the presence of a magnetoelectric field depend on the bi-directional FG indices.

Bending and wave propagation analysis of axially functionally graded beams based on a reformulated strain gradient elasticity theory

A new size-dependent axially functionally graded(AFG) micro-beam model is established with the application of a reformulated strain gradient elasticity theory(RSGET). The new micro-beam model incorporates the strain gradient, velocity gradient,and couple stress effects, and accounts for the material variation along the axial direction of the two-component functionally graded beam. The governing equations and complete boundary conditions of the AFG beam are derived based on Hamilton's principle. The correctness of the current model is verified by comparing the static behavior results of the current model and the finite element model(FEM) at the micro-scale. The influence of material inhomogeneity and size effect on the static and dynamic responses of the AFG beam is studied. The numerical results show that the static and vibration responses predicted by the newly developed model are different from those based on the classical model at the micro-scale. The new model can be applied not only in the optimization of micro acoustic wave devices but also in the design of AFG micro-sensors and micro-actuators.

Small scale effects on buckling and postbuckling behaviors of axially loaded FGM nanoshells based on nonlocal strain gradient elasticity theory

By means of a comprehensive theory of elasticity, namely, a nonlocal strain gradient continuum theory, size-dependent nonlinear axial instability characteristics of cylindrical nanoshells made of functionally graded material(FGM) are examined. To take small scale effects into consideration in a more accurate way, a nonlocal stress field parameter and an internal length scale parameter are incorporated simultaneously into an exponential shear deformation shell theory. The variation of material properties associated with FGM nanoshells is supposed along the shell thickness, and it is modeled based on the Mori-Tanaka homogenization scheme. With a boundary layer theory of shell buckling and a perturbation-based solving process, the nonlocal strain gradient load-deflection and load-shortening stability paths are derived explicitly. It is observed that the strain gradient size effect causes to the increases of both the critical axial buckling load and the width of snap-through phenomenon related to the postbuckling regime, while the nonlocal size dependency leads to the decreases of them. Moreover, the influence of the nonlocal type of small scale effect on the axial instability characteristics of FGM nanoshells is more than that of the strain gradient one.

Generalizing J_2 flow theory: Fundamental issues in strain gradient plasticity

It has not been a simple matter to obtain a sound extension of the classical J2 flow theory of plasticity that incorporates a dependence on plastic strain gradients and that is capable of capturing size-dependent behaviour of metals at the micron scale. Two classes of basic extensions of classical J2 theory have been proposed： one with increments in higher order stresses related to increments of strain gradients and the other characterized by the higher order stresses themselves expressed in terms of increments of strain gradients. The theories proposed by Muhlhans and Aifantis in 1991 and Fleck and Hutchinson in 2001 are in the first class, and, as formulated, these do not always satisfy thermodynamic requirements on plastic dissipation. On the other hand, theories of the second class proposed by Gudmundson in 2004 and Gurtin and Anand in 2009 have the physical deficiency that the higher order stress quantities can change discontinuously for bodies subject to arbitrarily small load changes. The present paper lays out this background to the quest for a sound phenomenological extension of the rateindependent J2 flow theory of plasticity to include a de- pendence on gradients of plastic strain. A modification of the Fleck-Hutchinson formulation that ensures its thermo- dynamic integrity is presented and contrasted with a comparable formulation of the second class where in the higher or- der stresses are expressed in terms of the plastic strain rate. Both versions are constructed to reduce to the classical J2 flow theory of plasticity when the gradients can be neglected and to coincide with the simpler and more readily formulated J2 deformation theory of gradient plasticity for deformation histories characterized by proportional straining.

CRACK TIP FIELD AND J-INTEGRAL WITH STRAIN GRADIENT EFFECT

The mode I plane strain crack tip field with strain gradient effects is presented in this paper based on a simplified strain gradient theory within the framework proposed by Acharya and Bassani.The theory retains the essential structure of the incremental version of the conventional J_2 deformation theory.No higher-order stress is introduced and no extra boundary value conditions beyond the conventional ones are required.The strain gradient effects are considered in the constitutive relation only through the instantaneous tangent modulus.The strain gradient measures are included into the tangent modulus as internal parameters.Therefore the boundary value problem is the same as that in the conventional theory.Two typical crack problems are studied:(a)the crack tip field under the small scale yielding condition induced by a linear elastic mode-I K-field and(b)the complete field for a compact tension specimen.The calculated results clearly show that the stress level near the crack tip with strain gradient effects is considerable higher than that in the classical theory.The singularity of the strain field near the crack tip is nearly equal to the square-root singularity and the singularity of the stress field is slightly greater than it.Consequently,the J-integral is no longer path independent and increases monotonically as the radius of the calculated circular contour decreases.

Vibration analysis of piezoelectric sandwich nanobeam with flexoelectricity based on nonlocal strain gradient theory

A nonlocal strain gradient theory(NSGT) accounts for not only the nongradient nonlocal elastic stress but also the nonlocality of higher-order strain gradients,which makes it benefit from both hardening and softening effects in small-scale structures.In this study, based on the NSGT, an analytical model for the vibration behavior of a piezoelectric sandwich nanobeam is developed with consideration of flexoelectricity. The sandwich nanobeam consists of two piezoelectric sheets and a non-piezoelectric core. The governing equation of vibration of the sandwich beam is obtained by the Hamiltonian principle. The natural vibration frequency of the nanobeam is calculated for the simply supported(SS) boundary, the clamped-clamped(CC) boundary, the clamped-free(CF)boundary, and the clamped-simply supported(CS) boundary. The effects of geometric dimensions, length scale parameters, nonlocal parameters, piezoelectric constants, as well as the flexoelectric constants are discussed. The results demonstrate that both the flexoelectric and piezoelectric constants enhance the vibration frequency of the nanobeam.The nonlocal stress decreases the natural vibration frequency, while the strain gradient increases the natural vibration frequency. The natural vibration frequency based on the NSGT can be increased or decreased, depending on the value of the nonlocal parameter to length scale parameter ratio.

Strain gradient plasticity: energetic or dissipative?

Abstract For an infinite slab of strain gradient sensitive material subjected to plane-strain tensile loading, compu- tation established and analysis confirmed that passivation of the lateral boundaries at some stage of loading inhibits plastic deformation upon further loading. This result is not surprising in itself except that, remarkably, if the gradient terms contribute to the dissipation, the plastic deformation is switched off completely and only resumes at a clearly defined higher load, corresponding to a total strain ec, say. The analysis presented in this paper confirms the delay of plastic deformation following passivation and determines the exact manner in which the plastic flow resumes. The plastic strain rate is continuous at the exact point ec of resumption of plastic flow and, for the first small increment Ae = e - ec in the imposed total strain, the corresponding increment in plastic strain, AeP, is proportional to （Ae）2. The constant A in the relation AeP（0） = A（Ae）2, where AeP（0） denotes the plastic strain increment at the centre of the slab, has been determined explicitly; it depends on the hardening modulus of the material. The presence of energetic gradient terms has no effect on the value of ec unless the dissipative terms are absent, in which case passivation reduces the rate of plastic deformation but introduces no delay. This qualitative effect of dissipative gradient terms opens the possibility of experimen- tal discrimination of their presence or absence. The analysisemploys an incremental variational formulation that is likely to find use in other problems.

Vibration and wave propagation analysis of twisted micro-beam using strain gradient theory

In this research, vibration and wave propagation analysis of a twisted micro- beam on Pasternak foundation is investigated. The strain-displacement relations （kine-matic equations） are calculated by the displacement fields of the twisted micro-beam. The strain gradient theory （SGT） is used to implement the size dependent effect at micro-scale. Finally, using an energy method and Hamilton＇s principle, the governing equations of motion for the twisted micro-beam are derived. Natural frequencies and the wave prop- agation speed of the twisted micro-beam are calculated with an analytical method. Also, the natural frequency, the phase speed, the cut-off frequency, and the wave number of the twisted micro-beam are obtained by considering three material length scale parameters, the rate of twist angle, the thickness, the length of twisted micro-beam, and the elastic medium. The results of this work indicate that the phase speed in a twisted micro-beam increases with an increase in the rate of twist angle. Moreover, the wave number is in- versely related with the thickness of micro-beam. Meanwhile, it is directly related to the wave propagation frequency. Increasing the rate of twist angle causes the increase in the natural frequency especially with higher thickness. The effect of the twist angle rate on the group velocity is observed at a lower wave propagation frequency.

On band gaps of nonlocal acoustic lattice metamaterials:a robust strain gradient model

We have proposed an"exact"strain gradient(SG)continuum model to properly predict the dispersive characteristics of diatomic lattice metamaterials with local and nonlocal interactions.The key enhancement is proposing a wavelength-dependent Taylor expansion to obtain a satisfactory accuracy when the wavelength gets close to the lattice spacing.Such a wavelength-dependent Taylor expansion is applied to the displacement field of the diatomic lattice,resulting in a novel SG model.For various kinds of diatomic lattices,the dispersion diagrams given by the proposed SG model always agree well with those given by the discrete model throughout the first Brillouin zone,manifesting the robustness of the present model.Based on this SG model,we have conducted the following discussions.(Ⅰ)Both mass and stiffness ratios affect the band gap structures of diatomic lattice metamaterials,which is very helpful for the design of metamaterials.(Ⅱ)The increase in the SG order can enhance the model performance if the modified Taylor expansion is adopted.Without doing so,the higher-order continuum model can suffer from a stronger instability issue and does not necessarily have a better accuracy.The proposed SG continuum model with the eighth-order truncation is found to be enough to capture the dispersion behaviors all over the first Brillouin zone.(Ⅲ)The effects of the nonlocal interactions are analyzed.The nonlocal interactions reduce the workable range of the well-known long-wave approximation,causing more local extrema in the dispersive diagrams.The present model can serve as a satisfactory continuum theory when the wavelength gets close to the lattice spacing,i.e.,when the long-wave approximation is no longer valid.For the convenience of band gap designs,we have also provided the design space from which one can easily obtain the proper mass and stiffness ratios corresponding to a requested band gap width.

Limit analysis of viscoplastic thick-walled cylinder and spherical shell under internal pressure using a strain gradient plasticity theory

Plastic limit load of viscoplastic thick-walled cylinder and spherical shell subjected to internal pressure is investigated analytically using a strain gradient plasticity theory. As a result, the current solutions can capture the size effect at the micron scale. Numerical results show that the smaller the inner radius of the cylinder or spherical shell, the more significant the scale effects. Results also show that the size effect is more evident with increasing strain or strain-rate sensitivity index. The classical plastic-based solutions of the same problems are shown to be a special case of the present solution.

MODE Ⅰ CRACK TIP FIELD WITH STRAIN GRADIENT EFFECTS

A plane strain mode 1 crack tip field with strain gradient effects is investigated.A new strain gradient theory is used.An elastic-power law hardening strain gradient material is considered and two hardening laws,i.e.a separation law and an integration law are used respectively.As for the material with the separation law hardening,the angular distributions of stresses are consistent with the HRR field,which differs from the stress results;the angular distributions of couple stresses are the same as the couple stress results.For the material with the integration law hardening,the stress field and the couple stress field can not exist simultaneously,which is the same as the conclusion,but for the stress dominated field,the an- gular distributions of stresses are consistent with the HRR field;for the couple stress dominated field,the an- gular distributions of couple stresses are consistent with those in Ref.However,the increase in stresses is not observed in strain gradient plasticity because the present theory is based on the rotation gradient of the deformation only,while the crack tip field of mode 1 is dominated by the tension gradient,which will be shown in another paper.

A SEPARATED LAW OF HARDENING IN STRAIN GRADIENT PLASTICITY

This paper presents a separated law of hardening in plasticity with strain gradient effects. The value of the length parameter l contained in this model was estimated from the experimental data for copper.

Isogeometric nonlocal strain gradient quasi-three-dimensional plate model for thermal postbuckling of porous functionally graded microplates with central cutout with different shapes

This study presents the size-dependent nonlinear thermal postbuckling characteristics of a porous functionally graded material(PFGM) microplate with a central cutout with various shapes using isogeometric numerical technique incorporating nonuniform rational B-splines. To construct the proposed non-classical plate model, the nonlocal strain gradient continuum elasticity is adopted on the basis of a hybrid quasithree-dimensional(3D) plate theory under through-thickness deformation conditions by only four variables. By taking a refined power-law function into account in conjunction with the Touloukian scheme, the temperature-porosity-dependent material properties are extracted. With the aid of the assembled isogeometric-based finite element formulations,nonlocal strain gradient thermal postbuckling curves are acquired for various boundary conditions as well as geometrical and material parameters. It is portrayed that for both size dependency types, by going deeper in the thermal postbuckling domain, gaps among equilibrium curves associated with various small scale parameter values get lower, which indicates that the pronounce of size effects reduces by going deeper in the thermal postbuckling regime. Moreover, we observe that the central cutout effect on the temperature rise associated with the thermal postbuckling behavior in the presence of the effect of strain gradient size and absence of nonlocality is stronger compared with the case including nonlocality in absence of the strain gradient small scale effect.

Variational principles for buckling and vibration of MWCNTs modeled by strain gradient theory

Variational principles for the buckling and vibration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） are established with the aid of the semi-inverse method. They are used to derive the natural and geometric boundary conditions coupled by small scale parameters. Hamilton＇s principle and Rayleigh＇s quotient for the buckling and vibration of the MWCNTs are given. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to study the buckling and vibration of the single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWCNTs） and double-walled carbon nanotubes （DWCNTs） with three typical boundary conditions. The numerical results reveal that the small scale parameter, aspect ratio, and boundary conditions have a profound effect on the buckling and vibration of the SWCNTs and DWCNTs.

MODE Ⅰ AND MODE Ⅱ CRACK TIP ASYMPTOTIC FIELDS WITH STRAIN GRADIENT EFFECTS

The strain gradient effect becomes significant when the size of frac- ture process zone around a crack tip is comparable to the intrinsic material length l, typically of the order of microns. Using the new strain gradient deformation theory given by Chen and Wang, the asymptotic fields near a crack tip in an elastic-plastic material with strain gradient effects are investigated. It is established that the dom- inant strain field is irrotational. For mode Ⅰ plane stress crack tip asymptotic field, the stress asymptotic field and the couple stress asymptotic field can not exist si- multaneously. In the stress dominated asymptotic field, the angular distributions of stresses are consistent with the classical plane stress HRR field; In the couple stress dominated asymptotic field, the angular distributions of couple stresses are consistent with that obtained by Huang et al. For mode Ⅱ plane stress and plane strain crack tip asymptotic fields, only the stress-dominated asymptotic fields exist. The couple stress asymptotic field is less singular than the stress asymptotic fields. The stress asymptotic fields are the same as mode Ⅱ plane stress and plane strain HRR fields, respectively. The increase in stresses is not observed in strain gradient plasticity for mode Ⅰ and mode Ⅱ, because the present theory is based only on the rotational gradi- ent of deformation and the crack tip asymptotic fields are irrotational and dominated by the stretching gradient.

Skyrmion transport driven by pure voltage generated strain gradient

The magnetic skyrmion transport driven by pure voltage-induced strain gradient is proposed and studied via micromagnetic simulation.Through combining the skyrmion with multiferroic heterojunction,a voltage-induced uniaxial strain gradient is adjusted to move skyrmions.In the system,a pair of short-circuited trapezoidal top electrodes can generate the symmetric strain.Due to the symmetry of strain,the magnetic skyrmion can be driven with a linear motion in the middle of the nanostrip without deviation.We calculate the strain distribution generated by the trapezoidal top electrodes pair,and further investigate the influence of the strain intensity as well as the strain gradient on the skyrmion velocity.Our findings provide a stable and low-energy regulation method for skyrmion transport.

THE BOUNDARY LAYER SOLUTIONS OF THE INTERFACE PROBLEM CONSIDERING THE STRAIN GRADIENT

Acoording to the classical elastic theory, there is always adiscontinuity of rotation angle on the interface different materials.This illogic result can be overcome by the strain gradient plasticitytheory. In the light of this theory, there is a group of boundarylayer solutions near the in- terface, which have made importantadjustment of the classical results.