Abstract
Based on the surface elasticity theory, we investigate the effect of surface tension on miniaturized contact problems of an elastic graded half-plane under plane strain and axisymmetric situations. The Fourier sine and cosine transform method is used to derive the solution for the problem under uniform pressure. The results show some interesting features in the distribution of surface elastic fields, which are different from their homogeneous counterparts. The surface Green’s functions of the nonhomogeneous half-plane are finally obtained which are verified using finite element method. The outcome of this study provides us not only as a potential method for precise nanoindentation-based analysis of elastic graded materials, but also as the investigations of surface effect-induced failure in nanomaterials and nano-devices.