Temperature distribution effects on buckling behavior of smart heterogeneous nanosize plates based on nonlocal four-variable refined plate theory

This work presents a theoretical study for thermo-mechanical buckling of size-dependent magneto-electro-thermo-elastic functionally graded (METE-FG) nanoplates in thermal environments based on a refined trigonometric plate theory. Temperature field has uniform, linear, and nonlinear distributions across the thickness. Nonlinear thermal loadings are considered as heat conduction (HC) and sinusoidal temperature rise (STR). A power law function is applied to govern the gradation of material properties through the nanoplate thickness. Considering coupling impacts between magneto, electro, thermo-mechanical loadings, the equations of motion, and distribution of magneto-electrical field across the thickness direction of the METE-FG nanoplate are derived. The exact solutions for critical buckling temperatures of METE-FG nanoplates are introduced implementing Navier’s method. Moreover, the accuracy of the present formulation is examined by comparing the obtained results with published ones. Furthermore, the effects played by the magneto-electrical field, various temperature rises, nonlocality, power law index, side-to-thickness ratio, and aspect ratio on the critical buckling temperature response are all investigated and reported.