Buckling of circular/annular Mindlin nanoplates via nonlocal elasticity

The present study proposes an analytical solution for the axisymmetric/asymmetric buckling analysis of moderately thick circular/annular Mindlin nanoplates under uniform radial compressive in-plane load. In order to consider small-scale effects, nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen is employed. To ensure the efficiency and stability of the present methodology, the results are compared with other ones presented in the literature. Further the exact closed-form solution is obtained using three potential functions. In addition, the effect of small scales on buckling loads for different parameters such as geometry of the nanoplate, boundary conditions, and axisymmetric/asymmetric mode numbers, is investigated. It is observed that the buckling mode shape for annular nanoplates, which corresponds to the lowest critical buckling load, may be axisymmetric or asymmetric depending on boundary conditions, inner to outer radius ratios, and thickness of the nanoplate. In other words, for stiffer boundary conditions and smaller inner to outer radius ratios, the mode shape corresponding to the lowest critical buckling load is an asymmetric mode. Also, the difference between axisymmetric and asymmetric buckling loads for higher mode numbers, greater thickness to outer radius ratios and smaller outer radii decreases by increasing the nonlocal parameter.