10.57647/jnsc.2026.1605.23

A Hygrothermal Plate Theory with Intrinsic Transverse Normal Strain for Predicting Interlaminar Stresses Accurately in Functionally Graded Graphene Nanoplatelet Composite Plates

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  • Rui Ma1,2,
  • Yuan Hu3,
  • Hongliang Li4,
  • Fanzeng Guo5,
  • Mingran Zhang1,
  • Abdul Ghaffar1,
  • Sadam Hussain1,
  • Manyu Zhang1,
  • Qilin Jin6,
  1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China
  2. Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing for Aerodynamic Equipment，College of Mechanical Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang, China 3
  3. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, South East Technological University, Carlow, Ireland
  4. Zhongzhe High-Speed Railway Bearing Co., Ltd. No. 33 Yongtai Road, Longyou Economic Development Zone, Quzhou 324400, China
  5. Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, City and Guilds Building, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK
  6. School of Engineering, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou 310015, China

Received: 03-02-2026

Revised: 03-04-2026

Accepted: 04-05-2026

Published in Issue 31-10-2026

Copyright (c) 2026 Rui Ma, Yuan Hu, Hongliang Li, Fanzeng Guo, Mingran Zhang, Abdul Ghaffar, Sadam Hussain, Manyu Zhang, Qilin Jin (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Ma, R., Hu, Y., Li, H., Guo, F., Zhang, M., Ghaffar, A., Hussain, S., Zhang, M., & Jin, Q. (2026). A Hygrothermal Plate Theory with Intrinsic Transverse Normal Strain for Predicting Interlaminar Stresses Accurately in Functionally Graded Graphene Nanoplatelet Composite Plates. Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry, 16(5). https://doi.org/10.57647/jnsc.2026.1605.23
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Abstract

Graphene based nanocomposites have great mechanical properties which could be applied in multifunctional engineering. But it is also true that classical higher order theory cannot provide a good description of the interlaminar mechanical behavior of FG-GNPRC laminate under moisture and thermal condition. It's a big difference because of the different parts in hygrothermal expansion coefficient causing dissimilar elasticity so there will be very complicated stress distribution. We have then developed another modified plate formulation with moisture and temperature induced strain taken up by the definition of displacement field, which means it is incorporated into the kinematic description so as not to add any further unknowns to our model. The proposed model can have an exact interlaminar shear stress because there are no breaks between layer and temperature-humidity. Also, the removal of the curvature-related terms of in- plane displacements from shear stress expression simplifies the finite element implementation. It’s verified by comparison to 3D elasticity solutions and a few other classical theoretical models, which all show good agreement with the interlaminar stresses and deformations characterized here: And the parametric analysis shows more clearly what is governing the hygrothermal response. As we increase the GNP with some value and transverse deformations become large for having greater hygrothermal extension difference between low volumes but this is not true when increasing concentrations go on up to more amount. When we get quite different variation in GNP graduation across width that alters how stresses will behave from layer to layer, stress too by heat and water besides deformation and evolution of stress also depends on geometry proportion, stack configuration, applied load. All in all, they give structural response. These results can help in choosing suitable material gradation and structural design to improve the hygrothermal behavior of FG-GNPRC plates.

Keywords

  • Graphene nanoplatelets,
  • Hygrothermal loading,
  • Plate model,
  • Transverse deformation
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