Wave propagation analysis of sandwich FGM nanoplate surrounded by viscoelastic foundation

This study focuses on damped propagation characteristics of bulk-type waves in a sandwich nanoplates. The nanoplates is made up of homogenous core and functionally graded material (FGM) face sheets while resting on a viscoelastic type substrate, called viscoelastic-Winkler foundation. Using a refined shear deformable theory (RSDT) of plate in conjunction with general nonlocal strain gradient theory (NSGT), this research contribution tries to find small-scale triple coupled (axial-shear-bending) governing equations by developing the assumptions of Hamiltonian principle. The derived equations are solved analytically to find the damped flexural wave responses of the introduced structure. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed size-dependent continuum theory to study damped flexural wave propagation nano-scale plate without boundaries. Results show that the visco-Winkler foundation, small-scale parameters, sandwich arrangements, and wave number affect the dispersion of waves. The obtained conclusions can be utilized for the designing process of small-scale composites.