Original article

Proc IMechE Part L:

J Materials: Design and Applications
Size-dependent natural frequencies 0(0) 1–20
! IMechE 2019
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of plane material inhomogeneity using DOI: 10.1177/1464420719886887

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Eringen’s theory of nonlocal elasticity

Piyush Pratap Singh1, Mohammad Sikandar Azam1 and

Vinayak Ranjan2

Abstract
Nonlocal effect is one of the critical reasons which cause an extraordinary vibration response in small-scale structures.
In the present work, vibration characteristics of functionally graded nonlocal plate are studied using Eringen’s nonlocal
classical elasticity theory. A computationally efficient numerical method has been proposed in this study by reformulating
the classical plate theory and Rayleigh–Ritz method using nonlocal differential relationship of Eringen’s theory in con-
jugation with algebraic polynomial displacement functions. The reformulated method helps to evaluate the natural
frequencies of functionally graded nonlocal plates subjected to all possible combinations of edge conditions. The material
properties are assumed to vary through the thickness of the plate following the power law. The computed results of
natural frequencies are first tested for convergence and then validated with the published one. A parametric study has
been thoroughly conducted focusing on the effects of aspect ratio, nonlocal parameter, material property index and
Young’s modulus ratio on the natural frequency parameters of the functionally graded nonlocal plate. It has been
observed that the material property index and aspect ratio affect the vibration behaviour of the functionally graded
plate. The study also establishes that nonlocal effect has a pronounced influence on the higher modes of vibration of
functionally graded plate. 3D mode shapes of functionally graded material nonlocal plate have also been reported.

Keywords
Nonlocal effect, Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory, Rayleigh–Ritz method, functionally graded plate, algebraic polynomial
function

Date received: 20 May 2019; accepted: 15 October 2019

Introduction methods1–3 that take into consideration atomic length.

Recent technological advancements, particularly
in the field of microtechnology and nanotechnology,
have led to the creation of new generation devices
that ensure enhanced functionality. However, while
conceiving a device at micro- and nanoscale, it is
important to take into account the atomic forces
and the small-scale effects to ensure the accuracy of
design. If these small-scale effects are ignored, it may
lead to an inaccurate design. As experimentation at
micro- and nanoscale is expensive and difficult to
carry out, there is a need to develop an efficient math-
ematical model to analyze vibration characteristics of
small-scale structures. On reducing the structure
to nanoscale, the effect of interatomic spacing needs
to be considered as cohesive interatomic forces alter
the dynamic behaviour of small-scale structure.
To successfully devise a structure at micro- and
nanoscale, various authors have proposed different
However, for a successful application of these methods,
a large number of equations have to be appropriately
worked out. As these methods are incompatible in sol-
ving large sets of equations efficiently, they can only be
applied to a system with fewer atoms and molecules.4
To overcome these shortcomings and to efficiently
model large systems, different continuum models5–7
have been developed recently.
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
(ISM), Dhanbad, India
2
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Bennett
University, Greater Noida, India
Corresponding author:
Mohammad Sikandar Azam, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand 826004, India.
Email: mdsazam@gmail.com
2 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)
A commonly used theory is Eringen’s nonlocal
elasticity theory. This theory8,9 takes into account
the small-scale effect, which plays a vital role in accur-
ately predicting the dynamic behaviour of nanosized
structures,4 by avoiding solving a large set of equa-
tions. According to nonlocal elasticity theory, stress at
a specified point is a function not only of the classical
local stress at that point but also of the spatial integral
of the weighted average of local stresses at every adja-
cent points, whereas in the case of classical continuum
models, stress at a specified point is assumed to be the
function of strains at the same point.10 There are two
types of nonlocal elasticity theory: nonlocal differen-
tial elasticity theory and nonlocal integral elasticity
theory.11 Between these two, nonlocal differential
elasticity theory is widely used because of its simpli-
city and ease of application.
Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are special
composites, which have continuously changing material
properties. They have proved to be a successful replace-
ment of traditional materials. The concept of FG was
first developed in 1984.12 To ensure property gradation,
FGMs are made by a varying percentage of the constitu-
ent materials, which are usually metal and ceramics. The
metal constituent of FGM averts fracture caused by
stresses and ceramic constituent has the temperature-
resistant quality. Unlike other composite materials, a
change in the material properties of FG plate helps in
decreasing residual stresses and stress concentration fac-
tors, providing a continuous stress distribution. Power
law13 and exponential law14 are generally used to gradate
the material property.
Most of the studies in the field are related to the
dynamic behaviour of isotropic and orthotropic nano-
scale beams and plates and there is little research on
FG plate. Johmehzadeh et al.15 analyzed 3D vibration
of plates using six decoupled equations, three each
concerning rotation components and displacement
components using Eringen theory. Kitipornchai
et al.16 examined the mechanical behaviour of gra-
phene sheets using the continuum plate model.
Dozio,17 using Trigonometric Ritz method, analyzed
the vibration behaviour of a rectangular Kirchhoff’s
plate. However, the last method is cumbersome as it
requires a large set of trigonometric terms and a high
number of iterations. Kumar et al.18 analyzed the
vibration response of a plate with in-plane material
inhomogeneity using the energy method and non-
linear strain–displacement relations. Saidi et al.19
used Navier equations to solve classical elastostatic
and elastodynamic problems of plates. One of the
limitations of this method is that it is valid only for
simply supported boundary conditions; it cannot be
generalised for all boundary conditions. George
et al.20 analysed the vibration behaviour of carbon
nanotube reinforced FG nanocomposite using finite
element method (FEM) and Rayleigh integral tech-
nique. Using FEM, deflection at any point can be
obtained, but one remains unaware of what is
happening inside the element. Moreover, to get a
smooth curve, large numbers of the element are
required, which, in turn, need very high computational
time and effort. Malekzadeh et al.21 used two-variable
Refined Plate Theory to analyze free vibration of
plates. They derived the equations of motion and
related edge conditions based on nonlocal differential
relations of Eringen using Hamilton’s principle. Zhou
et al.22,23 analyzed the vibration behaviour of circular,
annular and skew plates using Chebyshev–Ritz
method. However, orthogonal Chebyshev polynomial
employed in the method can only be used for a closed
interval solution. Moreover, it is challenging to deter-
mine the shape functions for 2D kernel particles pre-
sent in the deflection component.
The limitations associated with the methods dis-
cussed above can easily be overcome by using
Rayleigh–Ritz method with simple algebraic polyno-
mials. Solution to vibration problem of a small-scale
plate can be attained accurately using this method
with less computational effort as compared to other
computational techniques already discussed. Singh
et al.24 successfully analyzed the vibration of the FG
plate on elastic foundation using polynomial based
Rayleigh–Ritz method. However, they did not ana-
lyze a nanoscale plate.
The present study explores the small-scale effect on
the vibration behaviour of the FG nonlocal plates
subjected to all possible combinations of edge condi-
tions. To do this, an easier and computationally fast
mathematical model has been proposed using
Eringen’s nonlocal classical plate theory in conjuga-
tion with Rayleigh–Ritz method and a simple polyno-
mial function. The novelty of the proposed
mathematical model is that it eliminates all limitations
of edge conditions and is capable of handling any
combination of edge conditions simultaneously. The
effects of power law exponent, small scale, aspect
ratios and Young’s modulus ratio on the vibration
behaviour of FG nonlocal plates have been exten-
sively analyzed in this paper.
Mathematical modelling
The problem under consideration is an Al/ZrO2 FG
plate having uniform thickness h and size a  b.
Figure 1 shows the FG plate in Cartesian coordinates.
To derive a mathematical model of the FG plate, x
and y axes are considered along the edges while the
z-coordinate is considered normal to the xy plane. The
properties of constituent materials of the FG plate are
assumed to vary along the thickness following power
law variation as represented by equation (1). The mid
surface is taken at z ¼ 0, and one of the corners of the
midplane of the FG plate is considered at the origin
 
2z þ h k
V f ð zÞ ¼ ð1aÞ
2h
Singh et al. 3

Figure 1. Functionally graded plate.

PðzÞ ¼ ðPc  Pm ÞVf ðzÞ þ Pm ð1bÞ

where Vf (z), z and h are volume fraction of material,

thickness coordinate and thickness, respectively.
Further, in equation (1b), Pm and Pc stand for metal
and ceramic properties, respectively, and k (k 5 0)
represents the volume fraction index or material prop-
erty exponent. Equation (2) shows E (Young’s modu-
lus) and  (density) variation according to a power
law distribution. Poisson’s ratio (n) is taken as a con-
stant to derive a mathematical model as it allows the
constituents of the FG plate to deform uniformly in
transverse and longitudinal directions25

EðzÞ ¼ Vf ðzÞðEc  Em Þ þ Em ð2aÞ Figure 2. Material properties variation of the constituent

material of functionally graded plate.
ðzÞ ¼ Vf ðzÞðc  m Þ þ m ð2bÞ
associated with linear strain is given by
8 9 8 @u 9 8 2 9
> " > > > >
> z @@xw2 > >
The variation of E(z) in z-direction for a different < xx = < @x = < =
@v @2 w
power law index is depicted in Figure 2. One can "yy ¼ @y ¼ z @y2 ð4Þ
>
: >
; > : @u @v > ; > > >
>
observe from the figure that the properties of the con- xy : @2 w ;
@y þ @x 2z @x@y
stituents of the FG plate steadily shift from pure cer-
amic to metal with increasing values of k from zero to where "xx and "yy are normal strains and xy is a shear
infinite. With material properties varying along thick- strain.
ness, surface at z ¼ h/2 becomes ceramic rich, whereas The strain energy of orthotropic nonlocal plate in
at z ¼ h/2 surface becomes metallic rich. the Cartesian coordinate system is given by26,27
By using the classical plate theory, displacements Z aZ b"  2 2  2 2  2 2 
of an arbitrary point of a plate can be expressed as 1 @ w @ w @ w@ w
U¼ D11 2
þD 22 2
þ2D 12
2 0 0 @x @y @x2 @y2
8 9 8 9
@wðx, yÞ >  2 2 #
> uð x, y, z Þ > >
> z @x > @ w
>
< >
= >< >
= þ 4D66 dxdy
@x@y
u ¼ ðx, y, zÞ ¼ z @wðx, yÞ ð3Þ
>
> >
> > @y >
: ; >>
:
>
>
; ð5Þ
wðx, y, z, tÞ wðx, y, tÞ
Where flexural rigidities are given as
E h3
where u, v and w represent displacement components D11 ¼  x 
12 1  x y
corresponding to x-, y- and z-directions and deflection
along the z-direction of a point on the middle plane is  E h3  E h3
D12 ¼ y x ¼ x y 
denoted by w. To model the plate, Kirchhoff’s 12 1  x y 12 1  x y
assumption is considered and the displacement
4 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Ey h3 kinetic energy (Tmax) as

D22 ¼  
12 1  x y Z a Z b "( 2 2  2 2 )
ð6Þ 1 @ w @ w
Gxy h3 Umax ¼ D11 þ
D66 ¼ 2 0 0 @x2 @y2
12  2 2 # ð13Þ
@2 w @2 w @ w
where Young’s moduli are denoted by Ex, Ey, þ 2 2 2 þ 2ð1  Þ dxdy
@x @y @x@y
Poisson’s ratio by x, y and shear modulus of nano-
Z aZ b   2 
orthotropic plate by Gxy. !2 2 @ w @2 w
For FG nonlocal plates, the flexural rigidities Dij Tmax ¼ I0 w þ  þ dxdy
2 0 0 @x2 @y2
are modified and written in terms of stiffness compo-
ð14Þ
nents (Qij)28 as
R h=2 9
ðD11 , D12 , D66 Þ ¼ ðQ11 , Q12 , Q66 Þz2 dz = Further, maximum strain energy ðUmax Þ and max-
h=2
EðzÞ EðzÞ EðzÞ ;
imum kinetic energy ðTmax Þ are equated to obtain the
Q11 ¼ Q22 ¼ 12
, Q12 ¼Q21 ¼ 12
, Q66 ¼ 2ð1þÞ Rayleigh quotient ð!2 Þ
ð7Þ 28 ( 2  2 2 ) 93
>
> @2 w @ w @2 w @2 w >
>
6> þ þ 2 2 2 > >
>7
Further, using equations (6) and (7), the expression R a R b 6< @x2 @y2 @x @y =7
D11 0 0 6 6>  2 2
7 dxdy
7
for strain energy can be written as 4>  >
> 5
>
> @ w >
>
: þ 2ð1  Þ ;
@x@y
Z aZ b" ( 2  2 2 ) !2 ¼ Ra Rb h  2  i
1 @2 w @ w I 
w þ  @2 w
þ @2 w
dxdy
U¼ D11 þ 0 0 0 @x 2 @y 2
2 0 0 @x2 @y2
 2 2 # ð8Þ ð15Þ
@2 w @2 w @ w Further, the maximum deflection wðx, yÞ is given by
þ 2D12 2 2 þ 4D66 dxdy
@x @y @x@y
X
n

The expression of kinetic energy of the orthotropic w ðx, yÞ ¼ P i &i ðx, yÞ, i ¼ 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . n ð16Þ
i¼0
nanoplate using nonlocal theory is given by27,29
where the order of approximation and unknown con-
b  2
Z aZ stantans are denoted, respectively, by n and P i .
1 @w
T¼ h dxdy Moreover, the generated admissible function is denoted
2 0 0 @t
Z aZ b  2  ð9Þ by &i , which contains essential edge conditions polyno-
@ w @2 w mials  and algebraic polynomials i ðx, yÞ.
þ h þ dxdy
0 0 @x2 @y2
&i ðx, yÞ ¼  i ðx, yÞ ð17Þ
For FG nonlocal plate, equation (9) can be written as
¼ x y ðx  aÞ ðy  bÞ ð18Þ
Z a Z b"  2  2 !#
1 @w @ w @2 w  
T¼ I0 þ þ dxdy ð10Þ ¼ 1, x, y, x2 , xy, y2 , x3 , x2 y, y3 , x4 , x2 y2 , y4 . . .
2 0 0 @t @x2 @y2 i ðx, yÞ

ð19Þ
where I0 (inertial coefficient) is expressed as
Here, exponents, , , , control different edge
Z h=2 conditions.
I0 ¼ ðzÞ dz ð11Þ Further, taking the partial derivative of !2 , we get
h=2

@!2
and the nonlocal parameter is given by  ¼ ðe0 lint Þ , 2 ¼ 0, i ¼ 1, 2, 3 . . . n ð20Þ
@P i
where lint is an internal characteristic length of the
system and e0 is a constant. By solving and simplifying equation (20), we get
The harmonic type displacement components is the following equation
expressed as  
½Knxn 2 ½Mnxn fg¼ 0 ð21Þ
wðx, y, tÞ ¼ w ðx, yÞ cos !t ð12Þ
where fg denotes generalised coefficient column
where maximum deflection, frequency and transverse vector,  denotes nondimensional frequency, whereas
deflection of the FG plate are, respectively, denoted ½K and ½M are stiffness matrix and inertia matrix,
by wðx, yÞ, ! and wðx, y, tÞ. Using the above harmonic respectively. The frequency of free vibration for the
motion, equations (8) and (10) can be transformed FG plate along with mode shape can be obtained
into maximum strain energy (Umax) and maximum using equation (21).
Singh et al. 5

Table 1. Material properties of constituents of the FG plate. Table 2. Convergence of nondimensional frequency () of
the FG plate having a/b ¼ 0.5, k ¼ 0.5 and  ¼ 0.5.
Young’s Density
modulus (E), Poisson’s (), n 1 2 3 4
Material Gpa ratio () kg/m3
SCSF 15 8.5214 12.0132 19.1732 26.7486
Al (Metal) 70 0.3 2700 20 8.4102 11.9791 18.8621 26.2103
ZrO2 – I (Ceramic) 151 0.3 3000 25 8.3069 11.9699 18.2105 25.9271
Al2O3 (Ceramic) 380 0.3 3800 30 8.3061 11.9687 18.0922 25.8510
Ti-6Al-4V (Metal) 105.7 0.3 4429 35 8.3055 11.9687 18.0632 25.8392
Si3N4 (Ceramic) 322 0.3 2370 40 8.3055 11.9687 18.0632 25.8392
SUS304 (Metal) 208 0.3 8166 CCCC 15 18.9099 24.1824 30.2155 39.5368
20 18.9072 23.9813 29.9854 39.4215
25 18.9070 23.1214 29.8997 38.7211
30 18.9068 23.0928 29.8990 38.6482
Results and discussions 35 18.9068 23.0814 29.8988 38.6473
The natural frequency of the FG nonlocal plate is 40 18.9068 23.0814 29.8988 38.6473
obtained by applying Rayleigh–Ritz method along SSSS 15 10.1142 14.9725 23.2258 29.0984
with algebraic polynomial displacement function. A 20 9.7049 14.8244 22.8652 28.6412
computer program was developed in MATLAB to 25 9.7044 14.6819 22.1121 28.1456
solve the generalised eigenvalue problem. The metal 30 9.7044 14.6802 21.9930 27.1699
and ceramics used as FG plate constituents for the 35 9.7044 14.6802 21.9927 27.1684
present study are indexed in Table 1. 40 9.7044 14.6802 21.9927 27.1684
The first four natural frequencies of the FG non-
SFSF 15 7.9211 9.8865 13.1254 20.1543
local plate for the combinations of boundary condi-
20 7.8654 9.7521 13.0025 19.6231
tions are presented in a nondimensionalised form as
frequency parameters (), which are defined by 25 7.7979 9.6235 12.9967 19.0159
30 7.7452 9.3321 12.9932 18.9925
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 35 7.7213 9.1565 12.9923 18.8818
 ¼ !a2 ðIc =Dc Þ ð22Þ
40 7.7213 9.1565 12.9923 18.8818
where

Ec h3 Validation study. After a successful test of convergence,

Ic ¼ hc and Dc ¼
12ð1  2 Þ
Convergence and validation study
Convergence test. The convergence test of the nondi-
mensional frequency parameters for Al/ZrO2 FG
nonlocal plates has been presented in this section.
An elaborate account of the effects of different par-
ameters on the vibration behaviour of Al/ZrO2 FG
nonlocal plates has been presented later in this article.
For convergence study, four different boundary con-
ditions, that is, SSSS (simply supported edges), CCCC
(clamped edges), SCSF (simply supported – clamped –
simply supported – free) and SFSF (simply supported
– free – simply supported – free) are considered.
Table 2 shows that nondimensionalised frequencies
of the FG rectangular nonlocal plates slowly converge
upon increasing the number of polynomials (n).
Frequency parameters are seen to decrease with
increase in the numbers of a polynomial. Moreover,
after a certain number of polynomials, further decrease
in frequency parameters is not observed. We get the
convergence of results when we use 35 polynomials.
The results are computed at the same number of poly-
nomials for all 24 boundary conditions.
a comparison of the computed results has been made
with results published in the literature. Because of
the scarcity of literature, nonlocal isotropic plate is
considered for comparison in place of an FG plate.
Nondimensional natural frequencies of a nonlocal
isotropic plate under various combinations of bound-
ary conditions are compared with the published
results30–32 and presented in Tables 3–6.
In Tables 3 and 4, nondimensionalised frequencies
of the square isotropic plate under the various com-
bination of boundary conditions are compared with
published literature30,31 and an excellent agreement is
observed. The obtained results are compared with
those of Aghababei and Reddy30 and presented in
Table 3. A difference of 0%, 0.542% and 0.70% in
the frequency parameters corresponding to first,
second and third modes, respectively, is observed for
 ¼ 0. From Table 4, a very nominal difference is
observed on comparing nondimensional fundamental
frequencies with those reported by Malekzadeh and
Shojaee.31
In Tables 5 and 6, the nondimensional fundamental
frequency of nonlocal rectangular isotropic plates under
the combinations of edge conditions have been com-
pared with Chakraverty and Behera32 and Aghababaei
and Reddy,30 respectively, and an excellent agreement
6 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Table
 3. Comparison
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi of nondimensional frequencies of results has been observed. Hence, based on the above
mn ¼ !mn h =G of SSSS square plate (E ¼ 30  106, observations, the proposed mathematical model can be
 ¼ 0.3 and a/h ¼ 10). held to stand valid and accurate. Further, the effect of
Aghababaei the varying non-local parameter (), aspect ratios (a/b),
Frequencies  and Reddy30 Present material property index (k) and Young’s modulus ratio
(Erat) on nondimensional frequencies of Al/ZrO2 non-
1 0 0.0963 0.0963 local FG plate subjected to all 24 combinations of edge
1 0.0880 0.0880 conditions has been analyzed in this article.
2 0.0816 0.0816
3 0.0763 0.0763 Numerical results. Fundamental nondimensionalised
4 0.0720 0.0720 frequency () of various FG nonlocal plates under
2 0 0.3853 0.3874 SSSS boundary condition is computed after the suc-
1 0.288 0.2884 cessful convergence test and validation.
2 0.2399 0.2402
Variation of nondimensionalised fundamental
frequency (1) of the FG nonlocal plate under
3 0.2099 0.2102
simply supported boundary conditions, fabricated
4 0.1889 0.1892
from different pairs of material, that is aluminium
3 0 0.8669 0.8608 (Al)/zirconia (ZrO2), aluminium (Al)/alumina
1 0.5202 0.5167 (Al2O3), titanium (Ti-6Al-4V)/zirconia (ZrO2), titan-
2 0.4063 0.4045 ium (Ti-6Al-4V)/silicon nitride (Si3N4) and stainless
3 0.3446 0.3435 steel (SUS304)/silicon nitride (Si3N4), have been stu-
4 0.3045 0.3037 died by varying the volume fraction index (k) and the
results have been plotted in Figure 3. It is inferred
from the figure that the fundamental frequency par-
ameters decrease with an increase in the material

Table 6. Comparison
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi of nondimensional frequencies
Table 4. Comparison of nondimensional frequencies 11 ¼ !11 h =G of SSSS plate with edge length (a ¼ 10)
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
(V1 ¼ !1a2 h=D) of square plate with edge length (a ¼ 10) having a/b ¼ 2, Young’s modulus ¼ 30  106 and  ¼ 0.3.
having E ¼ 30  106,  ¼ 0.3 and a/h ¼ 100).
a/h ¼ 10 a/h ¼ 20
CCCC SCSC
Aghababaei Aghababaei
Malekzadeh Malekzadeh Fundamental and and
and and frequency  Reddy30 Present Reddy30 Present
Frequency  Shojaee31 Present Shojaee31 Present
11 0 0.0602 0.06024 0.0150 0.01503
11 0 35.9492 35.9529 28.9310 28.9342 1 0.0568 0.05682 0.0142 0.01421
1 32.2675 32.2763 26.1979 26.2008 2 0.0539 0.05390 0.0135 0.01353
2 29.5088 29.5116 24.1120 24.1134 3 0.0514 0.05140 0.0129 0.01290
3 37.3462 27.3482 22.4537 22.4829 4 0.0493 0.04930 0.0123 0.01230

Table 5. Comparison of nondimensional frequencies of the FG plate with k ¼ 0,  ¼ 2 and a/b ¼ 2.

Boundary
conditions Source 1 2 3 4

SSSS Present 22.1851 29.1902 38.2287 44.1800

Chakraverty and Behera32 22.1851 29.1902 38.2287 44.1800
SFSF Present 7.0937 11.5810 18.7576 22.7213
Chakraverty and Behera32 7.0937 11.5810 18.7576 22.7213
CFSF Present 10.8033 13.0646 23.1535 25.2039
Chakraverty and Behera32 10.8033 13.0646 23.1535 25.2039
CCCC Present 40.2856 43.4408 50.1693 58.9610
Chakraverty and Behera32 40.2856 43.4408 50.1693 58.9610
CFSF ¼ Clamped – free – simply supported – free edge conditions.
Singh et al. 7

Figure 4. Effect of nonlocal parameter () on nondimensio-

Figure 3. Nondimensionalised fundamental frequency of FG nalised fundamental frequency of SSSS FG plate made from
plate under SSSS boundary conditions made from different pair different pair of materials for a/b ¼ 0.2, k ¼ 0.5.
of materials, w.r.t. volume fraction index (k) for a/b ¼ 0.2,
 ¼ 0.5.

properties exponent (k). This is because the percent- Table 7. Frequency parameters () of FG nonlocal plate
age of the ceramic phase decreases with increase in k, under 24 different combination of boundary conditions for
which causes a decrease in the stiffness of the FG k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 2 and a/b ¼ 2.
plate, leading to a decrease in 1. It can also be Boundary
observed from the figure that the decrease in nondi- conditions  1  2  3  4
mensional fundamental frequency is highest in case of
a Si3N4/SUS304 FG plate, while the decrease in fun- SCSC 29.7564 30.3324 33.4416 39.2972
damental nondimensional frequency is the least for SCSS 22.2481 25.2456 30.3679 37.4835
Al/ZrO2 FG plate among the materials shown in SCSF 9.7519 16.2524 22.3137 23.8459
Table 1. This is mainly due to the differences in mater- SSSF 7.5830 15.5089 17.4561 23.0790
ial properties, particularly in material density. SFSF 5.7750 8.7120 14.2784 16.9170
Further, the trend of the nondimensional funda- CCCC 30.2322 32.2987 37.0623 43.6356
mental frequency (1) of the FG plate under SSSS CCCS 23.2095 27.9787 34.5099 39.4664
boundary conditions made from different pairs of CCSS 22.6213 26.4564 32.3104 39.2188
materials as mentioned above w.r.t. various nonlocal CCFF 8.0397 12.4751 18.3858 21.5714
parameter () are shown in Figure 4. The nondimen- CFCF 11.2165 12.4628 19.0277 20.8570
sional fundamental frequency is observed to decrease
CFSF 8.7121 9.8247 17.6035 18.6771
with an increase in the nonlocal parameter () for
CFFF 2.4773 4.9759 8.8737 13.6798
a/b ¼ 0.2 and k ¼ 0.5. The reason for such behaviour
has been explained later in this article. For a detailed SSFF 3.6120 9.6132 14.9166 16.5228
analysis of the FG nonlocal plate, Al and ZrO2 as SFFF 4.3900 6.4145 12.4012 14.1544
constituents of FG have been considered. FFFF 7.15373 8.4342 14.2045 15.4217
The four initial nondimensionalised frequencies SFSC 9.75185 16.2523 22.3137 23.8459
() of Al/ZrO2 FG plate under 24 various combin- SCCC 29.8662 31.1909 35.1259 41.0806
ation of boundary conditions for a/b ¼ 2 have been SCCS 22.6213 26.4564 32.3104 39.2188
tabulated in Table 7. It can be seen in the table that CFFS 4.56265 10.9612 15.6414 18.0709
CCCC FG plate has the highest nondimensional fre- CFSC 10.9803 18.4945 22.6499 26.3306
quencies, whereas the same is least in the case of CFSS 9.41752 17.6825 18.3323 24.1612
CFFF (cantilevered) plate. The same behaviour is SSSS 16.7752 21.7972 28.2951 32.5781
also observed in the case of vibration of isotropic
CCCF 23.2095 27.9787 34.5099 39.4664
nano plate.32 The reason for such behaviour is that
CSCF 11.8311 18.5136 20.8673 25.5903
clamped edge condition applies more constraint on
edges of the FG nonlocal plate, which increases the CFSF ¼ Clamped – free – simply supported – free edge conditions.
plate stiffness leading to an increase in nondimen-
sional frequencies of the plate. aspect ratios (a/b), material property indices (k), non-
Further, only four different edge conditions, local parameter () and Young’s modulus ratio (Erat)
CCCC, SCSF, SSSS and SFSF, have been considered on nondimensional natural frequency () of the non-
here to study the effects of different parameters, that is local FG plate.
8 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Effects of various parameters on the first four non-
dimensionalised frequencies () of Al/ZrO2 FG nonlo-
cal plate are shown in Tables 8 and 9 for all edges
clamped (CCCC). It is inferred from the table that
nondimensionalised frequencies () increase while
increasing the aspect ratios. Similarly, nondimensional
frequency () for three more boundary conditions, that
is SFSF, SCSF and SSSS are tabulated in Tables 10–15
to observe the effect of different parameters of the plate
on nondimensional frequency.

Table 8. Effect of volume fraction index and aspect ratios on nondimensional frequencies () of the FG nonlocal plate under CCCC
edge condition for  ¼ 0 and 0.5.

¼0  ¼ 0.5

k a/b  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  4

0 0.2 22.6326 23.4399 24.8696 27.0387 20.1978 20.7144 21.6338 23.0254

0.5 24.5782 31.8292 44.7728 63.5975 21.5264 26.2793 34.0412 44.0019
1 35.9863 73.3976 73.3989 108.2248 29.5379 49.9954 49.9954 64.5475
4 364.7818 386.3053 425.1368 484.6139 159.1294 159.1722 161.705 167.8971
0.5 0.2 19.8785 20.5876 21.8432 23.7484 17.7399 18.1937 19.0014 20.2234
0.5 21.5873 27.9559 39.3244 55.8584 18.9068 23.0814 29.8988 38.6473
1 31.6071 64.4671 64.467 95.0549 25.9435 43.9115 43.9114 56.6927
4 320.3915 339.2959 373.4019 425.6413 139.765 139.8025 142.0271 147.466
1 0.2 18.8315 19.5033 20.6927 22.4976 16.8056 17.2355 18.0006 19.1583
0.5 20.4503 26.4835 37.2532 52.9163 17.911 21.8657 28.324 36.6118
1 29.9424 61.0717 61.0716 90.0485 24.577 41.5987 41.5987 53.7068
4 303.517 321.4255 353.7352 403.2232 132.404 132.4393 134.547 139.699
2 0.2 18.0013 18.6434 19.7804 21.5057 16.0647 16.4756 17.2069 18.3136
0.5 19.5487 25.3159 35.6108 50.5834 17.1214 20.9017 27.0753 34.9977
1 28.6223 58.3791 58.3791 86.0784 23.4935 39.7647 39.7647 51.3391
4 290.1354 307.2545 338.1398 385.4459 126.566 126.6003 128.6148 133.586

Table 9. Effect of volume fraction index and aspect ratios on nondimensional frequencies () of the FG nonlocal plate under CCCC
edge condition for  ¼ 1 and 4.

¼1 ¼4

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 18.3968 18.7489 19.3889 20.3804 12.9079 12.9511 13.0996 13.4202

0.5 19.3714 22.8655 28.5262 35.6717 13.2015 14.5538 17.0816 20.4182
1 25.6188 40.2844 40.2843 50.2752 16.2075 22.8378 22.8378 27.4098
4 117.4511 117.8419 118.8657 122.4586 60.7481 60.8457 61.6317 62.7792
0.5 0.2 16.1572 16.4674 17.0295 17.9003 11.3372 11.3751 11.5055 11.7871
0.5 17.0141 20.0833 25.0548 31.3308 11.5951 12.7828 15.0029 17.9335
1 22.5012 35.3822 35.3821 44.1572 14.2352 20.0587 20.0586 24.0743
4 103.1576 103.5017 104.405 107.557 53.3557 53.4414 54.1317 55.1396
1 0.2 15.3089 15.6001 16.1326 16.9575 10.7424 10.7759 10.8995 11.1663
0.5 16.1181 19.0253 23.7352 29.6806 10.9843 12.7828 15.0029 17.9335
1 21.3161 33.5186 33.5186 41.8315 13.4854 20.0587 20.0586 24.0743
4 97.7251 98.0505 98.9057 101.892 50.5455 53.4414 54.1317 55.1396
2 0.2 14.6339 14.9123 15.4213 16.2099 10.2665 10.3008 10.4185 10.6741
0.5 15.4074 18.1865 22.6888 28.3721 10.5 11.5756 13.5861 16.2399
1 20.3763 32.0409 32.0408 39.9872 12.8909 18.1644 18.1644 21.8008
4 93.4166 93.7276 94.5452 97.3685 48.3165 48.3947 49.0198 49.9325
Singh et al. 9

Table 10. Effect of aspect ratios, power law exponents and nonlocal parameters nondimensionalised frequencies () of the FG
nonlocal plate under SCSF edge condition for k ¼ 0.7 and  ¼ 0 and 0.5.

¼0  ¼ 0.5

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 9.9102 10.7534 12.3973 14.8458 9.0426 9.7444 11.0789 12.9985

0.5 10.4254 15.7539 25.7969 39.8445 9.4563 13.6269 20.5659 29.4190
1 12.6873 33.0651 41.7068 63.0453 11.2369 24.4979 30.5317 41.0158
4 64.7740 91.2625 137.2064 209.497 39.2616 50.6408 67.1409 88.4125
0.5 0.2 8.7042 9.4448 10.8886 13.0392 7.9422 8.5586 9.7307 11.4168
0.5 9.1568 13.8368 22.6577 34.9958 8.3055 11.9687 18.0632 25.8391
1 11.1434 29.0414 36.6315 55.3733 9.8696 21.5167 26.8163 36.0246
4 56.8916 80.1567 120.5112 184.004 34.4838 44.4783 58.9705 77.6536
1 0.2 8.2458 8.9473 10.3151 12.3524 7.5239 8.1079 9.2182 10.8154
0.5 8.6745 13.1081 21.4643 33.1526 7.8681 11.3383 17.1118 24.4781
1 10.5565 27.5118 34.7022 52.4568 9.3497 20.3835 25.4039 34.1272
4 53.8952 75.9344 114.1631 174.312 32.6676 42.1357 55.8646 73.5636
2 0.2 7.8822 8.5529 9.86037 11.8078 7.1922 7.7504 8.8118 10.3386
0.5 8.2921 12.5302 20.5175 31.691 7.5212 10.8384 16.3574 23.3989
1 10.0911 26.2989 33.1722 50.1441 8.9375 19.4848 24.2839 32.6226
4 51.5184 72.5872 109.1302 166.627 31.227 40.2781 53.4017 70.3204

Table 11. Effect of power law exponents, aspect ratios and nonlocal parameters on nondimensionalised frequencies () of FG
nonlocal plate under SCSF edge condition for  ¼ 1 and 4.

¼1 ¼4

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 8.3681 8.9741 10.1057 11.6998 6.1277 6.4878 7.1248 7.9887

0.5 8.7129 12.1669 17.5832 24.2344 6.3006 8.1465 10.8897 14.2554
1 10.1834 20.3003 25.2041 32.5935 7.0458 12.0164 14.7448 18.1786
4 30.5972 38.7834 50.4537 65.3626 16.658 20.7597 26.5266 33.8714
0.5 0.2 7.3498 7.8824 8.8760 10.2758 5.3822 5.6983 6.2578 7.0166
0.5 7.6526 10.6863 15.4435 21.2853 5.5339 7.1552 9.5645 12.5207
1 8.9436 17.8299 22.1372 28.6272 6.1884 10.5541 12.9505 15.9665
4 26.8728 34.0639 44.3141 57.4086 14.6414 18.2334 23.2986 29.7492
1 0.2 6.9627 7.4669 8.4085 9.7348 5.0986 5.3982 5.9282 6.6470
0.5 7.2496 10.1235 14.6301 20.1642 5.2424 6.7783 9.0608 11.8612
1 8.4726 16.8908 20.9711 27.1194 5.8625 9.9982 12.2684 15.1255
4 25.4575 32.2698 41.9762 54.3848 13.8684 17.2731 22.0715 28.1824
2 0.2 6.6557 7.1377 8.0378 9.3056 4.8738 5.1602 5.6669 6.3540
0.5 6.9299 9.6771 13.9851 19.2752 5.0113 6.4795 8.6612 11.3383
1 8.0987 16.1461 20.0465 25.9238 5.6040 9.5574 11.7275 14.4587
4 24.3358 30.8471 40.1292 51.9873 13.2586 16.5116 21.0984 26.9400

It can be observed from Tables 8 and 9 that for any
given plate aspect ratios and material property index,
the nondimensional frequency () decreases with an
increase in the nonlocal parameter. One can have a
similar observation from Tables 10–15. Further, it is
evident from the tables that the nondimensionalised
fundamental frequency of the FG nonlocal plate
increases with an increase in a/b.
The behaviour of nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency (1) of the nonlocal FG plate w.r.t. aspect
ratios for different nonlocal parameters subjected to
various boundary conditions are plotted in Figure
5(a) to (d). It can be seen from the figure that the
nonlocal effect on nondimensional fundamental fre-
quency (1) is notable for the higher aspect ratios.
This is because with an increase in the aspect ratio
10 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Table 12. Effect of power law exponents, aspect ratios and nonlocal parameters on nondimensionalised frequencies () of the FG
nonlocal plate under SFSF edge condition for  ¼ 0 and 0.5.

¼0  ¼ 0.5

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 9.8133 10.1467 11.2470 13.3787 8.9629 9.2316 10.1286 11.8012

0.5 9.7363 11.6878 17.6869 28.6782 8.8893 10.4251 14.7924 21.4979
1 9.6314 16.1353 36.7269 38.9719 8.7911 13.4671 24.8930 29.0445
4 9.4456 38.0515 52.4126 86.2553 8.6292 23.3418 28.3759 46.3244
0.5 0.2 8.6191 8.9119 9.8783 11.7507 7.5791 8.1082 8.8961 10.3651
0.5 8.5515 10.2654 15.5346 25.1884 7.7213 9.1565 12.9923 18.8818
1 8.4593 14.1717 32.2576 34.2294 7.8076 11.8283 21.8637 25.5101
4 8.2962 33.4210 46.0345 75.7589 7.8722 20.5013 24.9228 40.6872
1 0.2 8.1651 8.4425 9.3580 11.1318 7.4576 7.68112 8.4276 9.81926
0.5 8.1011 9.7248 14.7164 23.8617 7.3963 8.6742 12.3080 17.8874
1 8.0138 13.4253 30.5586 32.4266 7.3146 11.2053 20.7122 24.1665
4 7.8592 31.6607 43.6099 71.7688 7.1799 19.4215 23.6102 38.5442
2 0.2 7.8051 8.0703 8.9455 10.6410 7.1288 7.3425 8.0560 9.3863
0.5 7.7439 9.2960 14.0676 22.8097 7.0702 8.2918 11.7654 17.0987
1 7.6604 12.8334 29.2114 30.9970 6.9921 10.7112 19.7990 23.1010
4 7.5127 30.2649 41.6873 68.6046 6.8633 18.5653 22.5693 36.8450

Table 13. Effect of power law exponents, aspect ratios and nonlocal parameters on nondimensionalised frequencies () of the FG
nonlocal plate under SFSF edge condition for  ¼ 1 and 4.

¼1 ¼4

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 8.3003 8.5251 9.2870 10.6693 6.0913 6.2054 6.6341 7.3537

0.5 8.2298 9.4954 12.9556 17.9128 6.0343 6.6636 8.3465 10.665
1 8.1375 11.7858 20.0206 24.1525 5.9649 7.5852 11.3391 14.2904
4 7.9934 17.3873 23.6122 34.2946 5.8743 9.0749 13.9962 17.7997
0.5 0.2 7.2903 7.4876 8.1569 9.3709 5.3000 5.8527 7.3308 9.3672
0.5 7.2283 8.3399 11.3790 15.7330 5.3000 5.8527 7.3308 9.3672
1 7.1472 10.3516 17.5843 21.2134 5.2390 6.6624 9.9593 12.5514
4 7.0207 15.2714 20.7388 30.1213 5.1594 7.9706 12.2930 15.6336
1 0.2 6.9063 7.0933 7.7273 8.8774 5.0682 5.1632 5.5199 6.1187
0.5 6.8476 7.9006 10.7797 14.9043 5.0208 5.5444 6.9447 8.8739
1 6.7708 9.8064 16.6581 20.0961 4.9631 6.3113 9.4347 11.8904
4 6.6509 14.4671 19.6465 28.5348 4.8877 7.5508 11.6455 14.8102
2 0.2 6.6018 6.7806 7.3866 8.4860 4.8448 4.9356 5.2765 5.8489
0.5 6.5457 7.5523 10.3044 14.2472 4.7995 5.3000 6.6385 8.4826
1 6.4723 9.3740 15.9237 19.2101 4.7443 6.0330 9.0188 11.3661
4 6.3577 13.8292 18.7804 27.2768 4.6722 7.2179 11.1321 14.1573

for a specific length, the FG plate becomes smaller, designing the FG nonlocal plate with high aspect ratio.
which leads to an increase in the small-scale effect, as
the size effect plays a vital role in Eringen’s nonlocal Local  Nonlocal
PD ¼  100 ð23Þ
theory. Local
At this point, the term percentage difference (PD)
can be defined by equation (23). PD helps us to under- PDs for a/b ¼ 0.2, 1 and 2 with  ¼ 0.5 are
stand the need for considering the small-scale effect in 10.741%, 17.9188% and 56.37% respectively, for
Singh et al. 11

Table 14. Effect of volume fraction index, aspect ratios and nonlocal parameters on nondimensionalised frequencies () of the FG
nonlocal plate under SSSS edge condition for  ¼ 0 and 0.5.

¼0  ¼ 0.5

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 10.2643 11.4488 13.4238 16.4325 9.3495 10.3274 11.9190 14.2683

0.5 12.3370 19.7394 32.0818 41.9467 11.0489 16.71405 25.0398 30.9326
1 19.7392 49.3489 49.3489 78.9633 16.7138 35.0093 35.0093 49.1683
4 167.7833 197.3941 246.7656 321.7486 80.3935 88.7413 101.2921 118.4071
0.5 0.2 9.01532 10.0557 11.7903 14.4329 8.2117 9.0706 10.4685 12.5322
0.5 10.8357 17.3374 28.1778 36.8423 9.7044 14.6802 21.9927 27.1684
1 17.3372 43.3437 43.3437 69.3543 14.6799 30.7485 30.7485 43.1850
4 147.3657 173.3733 216.7367 282.5948 70.6105 77.9424 88.9658 103.9976
1 0.2 8.5405 9.5260 11.1694 13.6727 7.7792 8.5929 9.9172 11.8719
0.5 10.2650 16.4242 26.6937 34.9018 9.1932 13.9069 20.8343 25.7375
1 16.4240 41.0608 41.0608 65.7015 13.9067 29.1294 29.1294 40.9105
4 139.6041 164.2418 205.3214 267.7112 66.8915 73.8372 84.2801 98.5206
2 0.2 8.1639 9.1060 10.6769 13.0699 7.4362 8.2140 9.4799 11.3485
0.5 9.8124 15.7001 25.5168 33.36309 8.7879 13.2938 19.9158 24.6028
1 15.6999 39.2506 39.2506 62.8048 13.2936 27.8452 27.8452 39.1068
4 133.4493 157.0008 196.2692 255.9082 63.9424 70.5819 80.5644 94.1770

Table 15. Effect of power law exponents, aspect ratios and nonlocal parameters on nondimensionalised frequencies () of the FG
nonlocal plate under SSSS edge condition for k ¼ 0.7 and  ¼ 1 and 4.

¼1 ¼4

k a/b 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

0 0.2 8.6424 9.4818 10.8281 12.7821 6.3145 6.8035 7.5663 8.6469

0.5 10.0951 14.7557 21.2322 25.6334 7.1539 9.6801 12.9551 15.1054
1 14.7556 28.6163 28.6163 38.7227 9.6800 16.5458 16.5458 21.3857
4 60.4205 66.1827 74.8465 86.7124 31.7961 34.5812 38.7852 44.5869
0.5 0.2 7.5907 8.3280 9.5104 11.2265 5.5461 5.9756 6.6456 7.5947
0.5 8.8666 12.9601 18.6484 22.5141 6.2834 8.5021 11.3786 13.2673
1 12.958 25.1342 25.1342 34.0105 8.5021 14.5323 14.5323 18.7833
4 53.0679 58.1289 65.7384 76.1603 27.9267 30.3731 34.0654 39.1611
1 0.2 7.1909 7.8893 9.0095 10.6352 5.2540 5.6608 6.2955 7.1946
0.5 8.3996 12.2775 17.6662 21.3283 5.9524 8.0543 10.7793 12.5685
1 12.2774 23.8102 23.8102 32.2192 8.0542 13.7669 13.7669 17.7942
4 50.2729 55.0673 62.2758 72.1491 26.4559 28.7733 32.2712 37.0986
2 0.2 6.8739 7.5415 8.6123 10.1664 5.0224 5.4113 6.0180 6.8775
0.5 8.0293 11.7362 16.8874 20.3880 5.6900 7.6992 10.3041 12.0144
1 11.7361 22.7604 22.7604 30.7987 7.6991 13.1600 13.1600 17.0095
4 48.0564 52.6395 59.5304 68.9682 25.2895 27.5048 30.8485 35.4630

the clamped FG nanoplate. From the PD, it can be
concluded that it is necessary to consider the nonlocal
effect for an FG nanoplate with high aspect ratio to
attain a perfect design. It can also be noted that the
nondimensional fundamental frequency (1) of the
nonlocal FG plate increases with aspect ratio for spe-
cific nonlocal parameter.
Vibration behaviour of the FG plate w.r.t. material
property exponent (k) has been shown in Figure 6(a)
to (d) for  ¼ 1 and a/b ¼ 0.5 under four different
boundary conditions: CCCC, SCSF, SFSF and
SSSS. In Figure 6(a), the frequency parameters (V)
can be seen to decrease upon increasing the material
property exponent (k) of the clamped FG nonlocal
12
Figure 5. (a) to (d). Variation of nondimensional fundamental frequency of FG plate under CCCC, SCSC, SSSS and SCSF edge
condition w.r.t. aspect ratios (a/b) and nonlocal parameters () for k ¼ 0.5.
plate. This is because an increase in the material prop-
erty exponent increases the percentage of the metallic
constituent, which, in turn, leads to decrease in the
plate stiffness, thus decreasing the frequency param-
eter of the FG plate. From Figure 6(a), the frequency
parameters can be seen to decrease up to k & 0.5. The
decrement in frequency parameters (V) becomes nom-
inal for k > 0.5. Figure 6(b) to (d) reveal that the FG
plate under SCSF, SFSF and SSSS boundary condi-
tions display the same behaviour as the clamped plate.
Figure 7(a) to (d) depicts the vibration behaviour
of the FG plate for specific values of k ¼ 0.5
and  ¼ 0.5 w.r.t. a/b. The variation in the first six
nondimensionalised natural frequencies (V) of the
clamped FG plates is plotted in Figure 7(a). The
figure shows that V of the FG nonlocal plate under
clamped edge condition increases with an increase in
a/b. This is because the length of one of the edges of
the FG plate decreases on increasing the aspect ratio,
which leads to a increase in the plate stiffness, thus
increasing the frequency parameters (V) of the plate.
Similar analyses are done for three other combin-
ations of boundary conditions, that is SCSF, SFSF
and SSSS and are depicted in Figure 7(b) to (d).
It is clearly seen from the figures that the plate
Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)
subjected to SSSS, SCSF and SFSF boundary condi-
tions has the same frequency parameter as of the
CCCC plate, irrespective of the aspect ratios and
boundary conditions. Further, the second and third
nondimensional frequency parameter of the clamped
square FG plate are identical. Similar behaviour is
found to be true for SSSS boundary condition too.
The reason attributed to such behaviour is the sym-
metry of polynomials governing edge conditions.
These polynomials are symmetric in the case of
square plates with all edges having the same supports.
However, this trend cannot be seen for a/b 6¼ 1 and
boundary conditions other than SSSS and CCCC.
It is further observed that in the case of a square
plate, the second and third mode shapes as seen in
Figures 11 and 12 are different despite the fact that
corresponding Eigenvalues are identical.
Influence of nonlocal parameters () on the first six
nondimensional frequencies () of FG nonlocal plate
for k ¼ 0.5 and a/b ¼ 0.5 are presented in Figure 8(a)
to (d). It is evident from Figure 8(a) that the nondi-
mensional frequency () of the clamped plate
decreases with an increase in nonlocal parameters.
In the case of the local model, the stiffness of the
spring linking the atom is considered to be infinite,
Singh et al. 13

Figure 6. (a) to (d). Variation of initial five nondimensionalised frequency of the FG plate w.r.t. material property index (k) for  ¼ 4,
a/b ¼ 0.5.

Figure 7. (a) to (d). Variation of nondimensional frequency of the FG plate w.r.t. aspect ratios (a/b) for  ¼ 0.5 and k ¼ 0.5.
14 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Figure 8. (a) to (d) Variation of first six nondimensional frequency () of the FG plate w.r.t. nonlocal parameters for k ¼ 0.5 and
a/b ¼ 0.5.

Table 16. Nondimensionalised frequency of SSSS FG nonlocal plate for varying Erat and aspect ratio
(a/b) (k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1).

a/b Erat 1 2 3 4

0.2 0.25 12.279 13.3966 15.1724 17.7210

0.5 9.8895 10.7865 12.2197 14.2722
1 8.4448 9.2138 10.4345 12.1872
2 7.6204 8.3143 9.4159 10.9975
0.5 0.25 14.209 20.2431 28.3666 33.7837
0.5 11.443 16.3037 22.8461 27.2089
1 9.7717 13.9221 19.5085 23.2340
2 8.8178 12.5632 17.6041 20.9659
1 0.25 20.2424 37.4266 37.4267 49.6796
0.5 16.3041 30.1425 30.1432 40.0113
1 13.9218 25.7390 25.7395 34.1662
2 12.5632 23.2270 23.2268 30.8301
2 0.25 37.4254 49.6771 65.4916 75.8796
0.5 30.1416 40.0090 52.7464 61.1125
1 25.7390 34.1642 45.0408 52.1847
2 23.2261 30.8291 40.6439 47.0903
Singh et al. 15

Table 17. Nondimensionalised frequency of CCCC FG nonlocal plate for varying Erat and aspect ratio
(a/b) (k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1).

a/b Erat 1 2 3 4

0.2 0.25 25.8252 26.1855 26.8794 28.0027

0.5 20.7993 21.0895 21.6483 22.5532
1 17.7608 18.0086 18.4858 19.2583
2 16.0269 16.2505 16.6812 17.3782
0.5 0.25 26.9351 31.0445 37.8352 46.4531
0.5 21.6932 25.0029 30.4719 37.4128
1 18.5241 21.3503 26.0204 31.9472
2 16.7157 19.2656 23.4802 28.8285
1 0.25 34.7068 52.2685 52.2685 64.1464
0.5 27.9524 42.0964 42.0964 51.6627
1 23.8689 35.9466 35.9466 44.1154
2 21.5388 32.4374 32.4374 39.8088
2 0.25 68.3127 74.1659 86.0611 102.086
0.5 55.0182 59.7322 69.3125 82.2189
1 46.9807 51.0061 59.1868 70.2077
2 42.3943 46.0268 53.4089 63.3539

Table 18. Nondimensionalised frequency of SFSF FG nonlocal plate for varying Erat and aspect ratio (a/b)
(k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1).

a/b Erat 1 2 3 4

0.2 0.25 11.8138 12.1011 13.1064 14.8892

0.5 9.5119 9.7461 10.5562 11.9914
1 8.1223 8.3223 9.0137 10.2393
2 7.3294 7.5099 8.1337 9.2399
0.5 0.25 12.7071 13.3275 17.6671 23.6890
0.5 9.8287 10.7344 14.2281 19.0791
1 8.5512 9.1663 12.1523 16.2922
2 7.9853 8.2712 10.9645 14.7011
1 0.25 14.5736 16.0651 25.9565 31.8890
0.5 10.3217 12.9392 20.9052 25.6830
1 9.9599 11.0493 17.8513 21.9310
2 8.1829 9.9699 16.1080 19.7904
02 0.25 16.4432 19.6062 31.5072 38.7490
0.5 12.2157 15.7902 25.3757 31.2080
1 11.8694 13.4841 21.6682 26.6490
2 9.1012 12.1674 19.5531 24.0472

while in the case of the nonlocal model, the atoms are
assumed to be linked by elastic springs. So, the effect
of the small-scale makes the nonlocal plate more flex-
ible. Further, it is seen that decrease in the frequency
becomes less for higher values of nonlocal parameters
as compared to that of the lower ones. Moreover, the
nonlocal effect is noticeable at higher modes of vibra-
tion as compared to lower ones. From Figure 8(b) to
(d), the vibration behaviour of the plate under SCSF,
SSSS and SFSF edge conditions is noted to be the
same as that of the clamped plate.
In Tables 16–19, the effect of Erat (Ec/Em) on non-
dimensionalised frequency of the FG plate subjected
to four boundary conditions, that is, SSSS, CCCC,
SCSF and SFSF, are presented for various aspect
ratios (a/b) with a specified volume fraction index
(k ¼ 0.5) and nonlocal parameter ( ¼ 1). Upon ana-
lyzing the tables, nondimensionalised frequencies of
the FG plates is seen to decrease on increasing Erat
for a specific a/b. Further, the nondimensionalised
frequency is found to increase with an increase in a/
b for a particular value of Erat.
16 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Table 19. Nondimensionalised frequency of SCSF FG nonlocal plate for varying Erat and aspect ratio (a/b)
(k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1).

a/b Erat 1 2 3 4

0.2 0.25 11.8993 12.7105 14.2030 16.2742

0.5 9.5835 10.237 11.4389 13.1071
1 8.1831 8.7414 9.7678 11.1923
2 7.3846 7.8880 8.8143 10.0997
0.5 0.25 12.3439 16.8176 23.6116 31.87447
0.5 9.9416 13.5446 19.0165 25.6713
1 8.4893 11.5659 16.2384 21.9210
2 7.6605 10.4368 14.6532 19.7811
1 0.25 14.2320 26.7671 33.1314 41.9922
0.5 11.4623 21.5579 26.6836 33.8256
1 9.7878 18.4086 22.7854 28.8793
2 8.8322 16.6115 20.5611 26.0600
2 0.25 21.0902 36.5883 50.7805 54.9605
0.5 16.9862 29.4677 40.8980 44.2645
1 14.5047 25.1628 34.9233 37.7980
2 13.0887 22.7064 31.5140 34.1081

Figure 9. (a) to (d) Effect of Erat on nondimensional frequencies of functionally graded plate for k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1 and a/b ¼ 0.5.
Singh et al. 17

Figure 10. (a) to (d) Effect of Erat ¼ rrat on nondimensional frequencies of functionally graded plate for k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1 and a/b ¼ 0.5.

Figure 11. Mode shapes corresponding to first three Eigenvalues of CCCC FG plate having k ¼ 0.7,  ¼ 4 and a/b ¼ 1.

Figure 12. Mode shapes corresponding to first three Eigenvalues of SSSS FG plate having k ¼ 0.7,  ¼ 4 and a/b ¼ 1.
18 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Figure 13. Mode shapes corresponding to first three Eigenvalues of CFFF FG plate having k ¼ 0.7,  ¼ 4 and a/b ¼ 1.

Figure 14. Mode shapes corresponding to the first three Eigenvalues of SCSC FG plate having k ¼ 0.7,  ¼ 4 and a/b ¼ 1.

Figure 15. Mode shapes corresponding to the first three Eigenvalues of SCSF FG plate having k ¼ 0.7,  ¼ 4 and a/b ¼ 1.

In Figure 9(a) to (d), the effect of varying Erat (Ec/
Em) on nondimensionalised frequencies of the FG
plate under various combination of boundary condi-
tions, that is, SSSS, CCCC, SFSF and SCSF, are
shown for constant parameters, that is a/b ¼ 0.5,
k ¼ 0.5,  ¼ 1 and rrat ¼ 1. It is evident from the fig-
ures that the nondimensional frequencies of the FG
plate decrease with increasing Erat while keeping other
parameters constant. This is because the frequency is
inversely proportional to Young’s modulus as given in
equation (22); therefore, with an increase in the value
of Erat, the nondimensional frequencies of the FG
nonlocal plate decreases. The decreasing trend of the
nondimensional frequency holds irrespective of the
edge conditions and other parameters of the FG plate.
In Figure 10(a) to (d), a trend of variation in non-
dimensionalised natural frequencies of the FG plate
under various combination of edge conditions, that is
SSSS, CCCC, SFSF and SCSF, are plotted w.r.t.
varying Erat and rrat together in same proportions
with constant parameters, that is, a/b ¼ 0.5, k ¼ 0.5
and  ¼ 1. It is observed from the figures that the
nondimensionalised natural frequency decreases when
Erat and rrat increase in the same proportion. The non-
dimensional frequency shows a considerable decrease
for Erat ¼ rrat 4 15. Further, for Erat ¼ rrat 5 20, the
decrease becomes nominal. This trend of natural fre-
quency parameters holds irrespective of other param-
eters of the plate.
Knowledge of modes is essential for designing a
structure. The authors of the present study have pre-
sented the initial three-mode shapes for the vibration
behaviour of a nonlocal FG plate in Figures 11–15
under five different boundary conditions. Figure 11
Singh et al.
depicts the three-dimensional mode shapes associated
with three eigenvalues of a CCCC functionally graded
plate. The second and third modes are found to be
different from each other. A similar observation can
be made for the SSSS boundary conditions as
depicted in Figure 12. The shapes of the first three
modes are presented for CFFF, SCSC and SCSF
edge conditions in Figures 13–15 for benchmarking
the solution.
Conclusion
A detailed analysis of nondimensional frequencies of
aluminium–zirconia FG nonlocal plate under 24 dif-
ferent boundary conditions has been presented in this
study. Classical plate theory with nonlocal theory by
Eringen has been implemented to analyze small-scale
effect on an FG nonlocal plate. The Rayleigh–Ritz
method, along with algebraic displacement polyno-
mials, has been considered for computing the natural
frequencies of FG plates.
In the proposed numerical model of calculating
frequencies, the essential boundary conditions need
to be fulfilled. If i satisfies the boundary condition
of the nonlocal plate then, upon increasing the terms
of polynomial series (n), exact values of the natural
frequency of an FG nonlocal plate can be obtained.
Small-scale effect has been included in the present
elastic theory. The results obtained are accurate and
reliable and the analysis is computationally fast. The
effect of the aspect ratio, material property index and
nonlocal parameter on an FG plate has also been
considered for analysis. One can conclude that the
volume fraction index (k), aspect ratios (a/b), nonlocal
parameter () and Erat and rrat effect the vibration
behaviour of FG nonlocal plates. For the fixed non-
local parameter () and material parameters, on the
increasing aspect ratio (a/b), the nondimensionalised
frequency of the nonlocal plates increases.
Further, it is noteworthy that nondimensional fre-
quency shows a decreasing trend with an increasing
Erat, irrespective of edge supports and configuration
of the FG nonlocal plate. Moreover, when the non-
local parameter () is increased by keeping the rest of
the parameters constant, the nondimensionalised fre-
quency decreases. The nonlocal parameter has a prom-
inent effect on higher modes of vibration and higher
aspect ratio. An increase in the material property index
(k) decreases the nondimensional frequency. This
behaviour holds irrespective of edge supports, aspect
ratios and nonlocal parameters. Further, if plates with
a ¼ b are analyzed for specified boundary conditions,
that is SSSS and CCCC, we observe 2 ¼ 3.
However, this does not apply to the plate with a 6¼ b.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
19
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Mohammad Sikandar Azam https://orcid.org/0000-
0001-9081-470X
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