Postbuckling instability of nonlinear nanobeam with geometric imperfection embedded in elastic foundation

In this paper, the static instability of a nanobeam with geometrical imperfections that is embedded in elastic foundation is investigated. Size-dependent effect is included in the nonlinear model. It is argued that nonlocal parameter may render the nanobeam initially unstable. Static response is studied and the condition for instability is stated. The exact postbuckling solution for both the straight and curved nanobeam is presented. It is shown that the bifurcation diagram of a curved nanobeam with initial sinusoidal configuration is similar to that of a straight nanobeam in its nearest buckling mode. The results are verified with pervious relevant works on straight nanobeams and classical theory of curved beams and excellent agreement is shown.