Application of the surface stress-driven nonlocal theory of elasticity for the study of the bending response of FG cracked nanobeams

In this manuscript the bending response of cracked Bernoulli-Euler functionally graded (FG) nanobeams is investigated by the stress-driven enriched model incorporating surface energy effects (SSDM) recently developed by Penna. The approach represents a one-dimensional simplified method in which a discontinuity in rotation due to a crack in an internal point is modelled as a rotational spring connecting two segments into which the cracked FG nanobeam is divided. Therefore, the governing equations and the related standard boundary conditions are derived by applying the principle of virtual work in each of the two parts of the FG nanobeam. Several results of a parametric bending analysis are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed novel approach.