Orientation dependent size effects in single crystalline anisotropic nanoplates with regard to surface energy

• Size effects in single crystalline anisotropic nanoplates are discussed.
• A generalized model is established containing some physical assumptions.
• Orientation dependent size effects due to material anisotropy are explained.
• Bending, instability and frequencies are studied at normal/auxetic domain.

In this work, size dependent behavior of single crystalline normal and auxetic anisotropic nanoplates is discussed with consideration of material surface stresses via a generalized model. Bending of pressurized nanoplates and their fundamental resonant frequency are discussed for different crystallographic directions and anisotropy degrees. It is explained that the orientation effects are considerable when the nanoplates' edges are pinned but for clamped nanoplates, the anisotropy effect may be ignored. The size effects are the highest when the simply supported nanoplates are parallel to [110] direction but as the anisotropy gets higher, the size effects are reduced. The orientation effect is also discussed for possibility of self-instability occurrence in nanoplates. The results in simpler cases are compared with previous experiments for nanowires but with a correction factor. There are still some open questions for future studies.