A new inverse trigonometric shear deformation theory for isotropic and functionally graded sandwich plates

A new inverse trigonometric shear deformation theory is proposed for the static, buckling and free vibration analyses of isotropic and functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates. It accounts for a inverse trigonometric distribution of transverse shear stress and satisfies the traction free boundary conditions. Equations of motion obtained here are solved for three types of FG plates: FG plates, sandwich plates with FG core and sandwich plates with FG faces. Closed-form solutions are obtained to predict the deflections, stresses, critical buckling loads and natural frequencies of simply supported plates. A good agreement between the obtained predictions and the available solutions of existing shear deformation theories is found to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed theory.     

Stability and vibration analyses of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beams with elastic boundary conditions: Chebyshev collocation method

This article aims to investigate stability and vibration behavior of carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beams supported by classical and nonclassical boundary conditions. To include significant effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia, Timoshenko beam theory is used to formulate the coupled equations of motion governing buckling and vibration analyses of the beams. An effective mathematical technique, namely Chebyshev collocation method, is employed to solve the coupled equations of motion for determining critical buckling loads and natural frequencies of the beams with different boundary conditions. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed mathematical models are verified numerically by comparing with the existing results in the literature for the cases of classical boundary conditions. New results of critical buckling loads and natural frequencies of the beams with nonclassical boundary conditions including translational and rotational springs are presented and discussed in detail associated with many important parametric studies.     

Static behaviour of functionally graded sandwich beams using a quasi-3D theory

This paper presents static behaviour of functionally graded (FG) sandwich beams by using a quasi-3D theory, which includes both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects. Various symmetric and non-symmetric sandwich beams with FG material in the core or skins under the uniformly distributed load are considered. Finite element model (FEM) and Navier solutions are developed to determine the displacement and stresses of FG sandwich beams for various power-law index, skin-core-skin thickness ratios and boundary conditions. Numerical results are compared with those predicted by other theories to show the effects of shear deformation and thickness stretching on displacement and stresses.     

Effect of thickness stretching and porosity on mechanical response of a functionally graded beams resting on elastic foundations

The novelty of this paper is the use of an efficient beam theory for bending, free vibration and buckling analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) beams on two-parameter elastic foundation. The present theory accounts for both shear deformation and thickness stretching effects by a parabolic variation of all displacements across the thickness, and satisfies the stress-free boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the beam without requiring any shear correction factor. Due to porosities, possibly occurring inside FGMs during fabrication, it is therefore necessary to consider the vibration, bending and buckling behaviors of beams having porosities in this work. The equation of motion for FGM beams is obtained through Hamilton’s principle. The closed form solutions are obtained by using Navier technique, and then fundamental frequencies are found by solving the results of eigenvalue problems. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present in literature. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the bending, free vibration and buckling behaviors of FGM sandwich beams.     

A Size-Dependent Functionally Graded Higher Order Plate Analysis Based on Modified Couple Stress Theory and Moving Kriging Meshfree Method

A size-dependent computational approach for bending, free vibration and buckling analyses of isotropic and sandwich functionally graded (FG) microplates is in this study presented. We consider both shear deformation and small scale effects through the generalized higher order shear deformation theory and modified couple stress theory (MCST). The present model only retains a single material length scale parameter for capturing properly size effects. A rule of mixture is used to model material properties varying through the thickness of plates. The principle of virtual work is used to derive the discrete system equations which are approximated by moving Kriging interpolation (MKI) meshfree method. Numerical examples consider the inclusions of geometrical parameters, volume fraction, boundary conditions and material length scale parameter. Reliability and effectiveness of the present method are confirmed through numerical results.     

A general Fourier formulation for vibration analysis of functionally graded sandwich beams with arbitrary boundary condition and resting on elastic foundations

Free vibration analysis of functionally graded sandwich beams with general boundary conditions and resting on a Pasternak elastic foundation is presented by using strong form formulation based on modified Fourier series. Two types of common sandwich beams, namely beams with functionally graded face sheets and isotropic core and beams with isotropic face sheets and functionally graded core, are considered. The bilayered and single-layered functionally graded beams are obtained as special cases of sandwich beams. The effective material properties of functionally graded materials are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction according to power-law distributions in terms of volume fraction of constituents and are estimated by Voigt model and Mori–Tanaka scheme. Based on the first-order shear deformation theory, the governing equations and boundary conditions can be obtained by Hamilton’s principle and can be solved using the modified Fourier series method which consists of the standard Fourier cosine series and several supplemented functions. A variety of numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the convergence, reliability and accuracy of the present method. Numerous new vibration results for functionally graded sandwich beams with general boundary conditions and resting on elastic foundations are given. The influence of the power-law indices and foundation parameters on the frequencies of the sandwich beams is also investigated.     

Out-of-plane free vibration of functionally graded circular curved beams in thermal environment

A first known formulation for the out-of-plane free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) circular curved beams in thermal environment is presented. The formulation is based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT), which includes the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia due to both torsional and flexural vibrations. The material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent and graded in the direction normal to the plane of the beam curvature. The equations of motion and the related boundary conditions, which include the effects of initial thermal stresses, are derived using the Hamilton’s principle. Differential quadrature method (DQM), as an efficient and accurate numerical method, is adopted to solve the thermoelastic equilibrium equations and the equations of motion. The formulations are validated by comparing the results, in the limit cases, with the available solutions in the literature for isotropic circular curved beams. In addition, for FG circular curved beams with soft simply supported edges, the results are compared with the obtained exact solutions. Then, the effects of temperature rise, boundary conditions, material and geometrical parameters on the natural frequencies are investigated.     

Free vibration and stability of functionally graded circular cylindrical shells according to a 2D higher-order deformation theory

A two-dimensional (2D) higher-order deformation theory is presented for vibration and buckling problems of circular cylindrical shells made of functionally graded materials (FGMs). The modulus of elasticity of functionally graded (FG) shells is assumed to vary according to a power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. By using the method of power series expansion of continuous displacement components, a set of fundamental governing equations which can take into account the effects of both transverse shear and normal deformations, and rotatory inertia is derived through Hamilton’s principle. Several sets of truncated Mth order approximate theories are applied to solve the eigenvalue problems of simply supported FG circular cylindrical shells. In order to assure the accuracy of the present theory, convergence properties of the fundamental natural frequency for the fundamental mode r=s=1 are examined in detail. A comparison of the present natural frequencies of isotropic and FG shells is also made with previously published results. Critical buckling stresses of simply supported FG circular cylindrical shells subjected to axial stress are also obtained and a relation between the buckling stress and natural frequency is presented. The internal and external works are calculated and compared to prove the numerical accuracy of solutions. Modal transverse shear and normal stresses are calculated by integrating the three-dimensional (3D) equations of motion in the thickness direction satisfying the stress boundary conditions at the outer and inner surfaces. The 2D higher-order deformation theory has an advantage in the analysis of vibration and buckling problems of FG circular cylindrical shells.     

An assessment of several displacement-based theories for the vibration and stability analysis of laminated composite and sandwich beams

Several displacement-based theories are assessed by analyzing the free vibration and the buckling behaviors of laminated beams with arbitrary layouts as well as soft-core sandwich beams. The equations governing the dynamic response of laminated structures are derived by using Hamilton’s principle. However, equations of equilibrium for buckling problems are given by employing the principle of virtual displacements. Moreover, using Navier’s technique and solving the eigenvalue equations, analytical solutions based on the global–local higher-order theory used in this paper are first presented in present study. At the same time, the effect of the order number of higher-order shear deformation as well as interlaminar continuity of transverse shear stress on the global response of both laminated beams and soft-core sandwiches has been also studied. Numerical results show that by increasing the order number of in-plane and transverse displacement components, the global higher-order theories can reasonably predict the natural frequencies and the critical loads of laminated beams with arbitrary layouts and soft-core sandwich beams whereas these global higher-order theories are still less accurate compared to the global–local higher-order theory and the zig-zag theory used herein.     

Free vibration of functionally graded spatial curved beams

A formulation for the free vibration analysis of functionally graded (FG) spatial curved beams is presented by taking into account the effects of thickness-curvature. The governing equation is based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and Ritz method is employed to obtain the natural frequencies. The curved beams presented are in the form of the cylindrical helical spring. The material distribution is in the direction of the curvature of the curved beam. The results for isotropic planar curved beams are validated with the known data in the literature. The effects of helix pitch angle, number of turns and boundary conditions on frequency parameters of spatial curved beams are investigated.     

Three-dimensional free and transient vibration analysis of composite laminated and sandwich rectangular parallelepipeds: Beams,plates and solids

This paper presents an efficient method for predicting the free and transient vibrations of multilayered composite structures with parallelepiped shapes including beams, plates and solids. The exact three-dimensional elasticity theory combined with a multilevel partitioning hierarchy, viz., multilayered parallelepiped, individual layer and layer segment, is employed in the analysis. The continuity constraints on common interfaces of adjacent layer segments are imposed by a modified variational principle, and the displacement components of each layer segment are assumed in the form of orthogonal polynomials and/or trigonometric functions. Numerical studies are given for free vibrations of composite laminated and sandwich beams, plates, and solids. Some in-plane shear vibration modes missed in previous elasticity solutions for multilayered plates are examined. The natural frequencies derived from Reddy’s high-order shear deformation theory and layerwise theory for soft-core sandwich plates show significant deviation from elasticity solutions. Transient displacement and stress responses for angle-ply laminated and sandwich plates under four types of impulsive loads (including rectangular, triangular, half-sine and exponential pulses) are obtained by the Newmark integration procedure. The present solutions may serve as benchmark data for assessing the accuracy of advanced structural theories and new developments in numerical methods.     

Free vibration analysis of simply supported sandwich beams with lattice truss core

Free vibration of AISI 304 stainless steel sandwich beams with pyramidal truss core is investigated in the present paper. The lattice truss core is transformed to a continuous homogeneous material. Considering the deformation characteristics of the sandwich beam, the following assumptions are made: (1) the thickness of the sandwich beam remains constant during deformation; (2) for the thin face sheets, only bending deformation is considered, neglecting the effect of transverse shear deformation; (3) for the core, only shear deformation is considered as the core is too weak to provide a significant contribution to the bending stiffness of the sandwich beam. The shear stress is assumed to be constant along the thickness of the core. The governing equation of free vibration is derived from Hamilton's principle, and the natural frequencies are calculated under simply supported boundary conditions. Finally, numerical simulation is carried out to get the mode shapes and natural frequencies. Our results show that the theoretical solutions agree well with the numerical results. It indicates the present method would be useful for free vibration analysis of sandwich beams with lattice truss core.     

On the vibration and stability of shear deformable FGM truncated conical shells subjected to an axial load

The aim of present study is to investigate the vibration and stability of functionally graded (FG) conical shells under a compressive axial load using the shear deformation theory (SDT). The basic equations of shear deformable FG conical shells are derived using Donnell shell theory and solved using Galerkin's method. The novelty of this study is to achieve closed-form solutions for the dimensionless frequencies and critical axial loads for freely-supported FG truncated conical shells on the basis of the SDT. Parametric studies are made to investigate effects of shear stresses, compositional profiles and conical shell characteristics on the critical parameters. Some comparisons with the various studies have been performed in order to show the accuracy of the present study.     

A higher order plate theory for dynamic stability analysis of delaminated composite plates

A higher order shear deformation theory is used to investigate the instability associated with delaminated composite plates subject to dynamic loads. Both transverse shear and rotary inertia effects are taken into account. The procedure is implemented using the finite element method. Delamination is modeled using the penalty parameter approach. The natural frequencies are computed and compared with NASTRAN 3D results and available experimental data. The effect of delamination on the critical buckling load and the first two instability regions is investigated for various loading conditions, plate thickness and boundary conditions. As expected the natural frequencies and the critical buckling load of the delaminated plate are lower than those of the nondelaminated plate. They decrease with increase in delamination length. Increase in delamination length causes instability regions to be shifted to lower parametric resonance frequencies and the normalized width of the instability regions to increase.     

Free vibration of axially loaded rectangular composite beams using refined shear deformation theory

Free vibration of axially loaded rectangular composite beams with arbitrary lay-ups using refined shear deformation theory is presented. It accounts for the parabolical variation of shear strains through the depth of beam. Three governing equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton’s principle. The resulting coupling is referred to as triply axial-flexural coupled vibration. A displacement-based one-dimensional finite element model is developed to solve the problem. Numerical results are obtained for rectangular composite beams to investigate effects of fiber orientation and modulus ratio on the natural frequencies, critical buckling loads and load–frequency curves as well as corresponding mode shapes.     

基于正弦剪切变形理论的功能梯度材料三明治微梁的静动态特性

基于修正的偶应力理论和正弦剪切变形梁理论,研究了功能梯度材料三明治微梁的静态弯曲和自由振动行为。考虑两种不同类型的功能梯度材料三明治微梁,根据哈密顿变分原理建立其静动态力学行为的控制方程,应用Navier解法,得到了简支边界条件下弯曲变形和振动频率的解析解,同时,给出了固支等边界条件时的里兹法求解过程。数值算例表明,功能梯度三明治微梁的静动态力学行为具有明显的尺度效应,微梁的无量纲厚度、功能梯度指数、长厚比和结构形式等因素对其静动态响应有很大影响,相关结果和规律对功能梯度材料三明治微梁的结构设计和性能优化等实际工程应用具有一定的指导意义。      

Thermal buckling of various types of FGM sandwich plates

The sinusoidal shear deformation plate theory is used to study the thermal buckling of functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates. This theory includes the shear deformation and contains the higher- and first-order shear deformation theories and classical plate theory as special cases. Material properties and thermal expansion coefficient of the sandwich plate faces are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The core layer is still homogeneous and made of an isotropic material. Several kinds of symmetric sandwich plates are presented. Stability equations of FGM sandwich plates include the thermal effects. The thermal loads are assumed to be uniform, linear and non-linear distribution through-the-thickness. Numerical examples cover the effects of the gradient index, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, loading type and sandwich plate type on the critical buckling for sandwich plates.     

Thermo-mechanical vibration analysis of sandwich beams with functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite face sheets based on a higher-order shear deformation beam theory

This article proposes a higher-order shear deformation beam theory for free vibration analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite sandwich beams in a thermal environment. The temperature-dependent material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beams are supposed to vary continuously in the thickness direction and are estimated through the rule of mixture. The governing equations and boundary conditions are derived by using Hamilton's principle, and the Navier solution procedure is used to achieve the natural frequencies of the sandwich beam in a thermal environment. A parametric study is led to carry out the effects of carbon nanotube volume fractions, slenderness ratio, and core-to-face sheet thickness ratio on free vibration behavior of sandwich beams with functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite face sheets. Numerical results are also presented in order to compare the behavior of sandwich beams including uniformly distributed carbon nanotube-reinforced composite face sheets to those including functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite face sheets.     

Exact solution for stability analysis of moderately thick functionally graded sector plates on elastic foundation

In this article, an exact analytical solution for buckling analysis of moderately thick functionally graded (FG) sector plates resting on Winkler elastic foundation is presented. The equilibrium equations are derived according to the first order shear deformation plate theory. Because of the coupling between the bending and stretching equilibrium equations of FG plates, these plates have deflection under in-plane loads lower than the critical buckling load acting on the mid-plane. The conditions under which FG plates remain flat in the pre-buckling configuration are investigated and the stability equations are obtained based on the flat plate assumption in the pre-buckling state. The stability equations are simplified into decoupled equations and solved analytically for plates having simply supported boundary condition on the straight edges. The critical buckling load is obtained and the effects of geometrical parameters and power law index on the stability of functionally graded sector plates are studded. The results for the critical buckling load of moderately thick functionally graded sector plates resting on elastic foundation are reported for the first time.     

Static,free vibration and buckling analysis of isotropic and sandwich functionally graded plates using a quasi-3D higher-order shear deformation theory and a meshless technique

In this paper the authors derive a higher-order shear deformation theory for modeling functionally graded plates accounting for extensibility in the thickness direction.The explicit governing equations and boundary conditions are obtained using the principle of virtual displacements under Carrera’s Unified Formulation. The static and eigenproblems are solved by collocation with radial basis functions.The efficiency of the present approach is assessed with numerical results including deflection, stresses, free vibration, and buckling of functionally graded isotropic plates and functionally graded sandwich plates.