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.     

Post-buckling analysis of skew plates subjected to combined in-plane loadings

Post-buckling behavior of laminated composite, sandwich and functionally graded skew plates is analyzed in the present work. The problem formulation is based on higher-order shear deformation theory and von Kármán’s nonlinear kinematics. Linear mapping is used to transform the physical domain into the computational domain. Chebyshev polynomials are used for spatial discretization of governing differential equations and boundary conditions. The nonlinear terms are linearized using quadratic extrapolation technique. The effect of the skew angle on the buckling and post-buckling response of the composite, sandwich and FGM-clamped skew plates is investigated for different combinations of in-plane compressive loadings.     

Exact three-dimensional free vibration analysis of thick homogeneous plates coated by a functionally graded layer

Exact closed-form solutions are carried out for both in-plane and out-of-plane free vibration of thick homogeneous simply supported rectangular plates coated by a functionally graded (FG) layer, based on three-dimensional elasticity theory. The elasticity modulus and mass density of the FG coating are assumed to vary exponentially through the thickness of the coating layer, whereas Poisson’s ratio is remaining constant. The equations of motion are solved using two proposed displacement fields for the in-plane and out-of-plane vibration modes. By inserting the displacement fields in the 3-D elasto-dynamic equations, some independent ordinary equations are obtained and solved analytically. Natural frequencies are extracted by satisfying boundary conditions of interface and surfaces of the structure. The solution procedure is validated by comparing the obtained results with corresponding results of a 3-D finite element analysis. Finally, the influence of the FG coating layer on the natural frequencies of the structure is investigated and discussed. Clearly, the present closed-form solutions can exactly predict both in-plane and out-of-plane vibration modes of thick FG coated plates.     

Nonlinear behavior of functionally graded circular plates with various boundary supports under asymmetric thermo-mechanical loading

The equilibrium equations of the first-order nonlinear von Karman theory for FG circular plates under asymmetric transverse loading and heat conduction through the plate thickness are reformulated into those describing the interior and edge-zone problems of the plate. A two parameter perturbation technique, in conjunction with Fourier series method is used to obtain analytical solutions for nonlinear behavior of functionally graded circular plates with various clamped and simply-supported boundary conditions. The material properties are graded through the plate thickness according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The results are verified with known results in the literature. The load–deflection curves for different loadings, boundary conditions, and material constant in a solid circular plate are studied and discussed. It is shown that the behavior of FG plates with clamped or simply-supported boundary conditions are completely different. Under thermo-mechanical loading, snap-through buckling behavior is observed in simply-supported FG plates which are immovable in radial direction. Moreover, it is found that linear theory is inadequate for analyzing FG and also homogenous plates with immovable boundary supports in radial direction and subjected to thermal loading, even for deflections that are normally considered small.     

Application of the boundary-domain element method to the pre/post-buckling problem of von Kármán plates

Based on the BEM formulations for the finite deflection problem of von-Kármán-type plates, this paper presents an incremental boundary-domain element method for the pre/post-buckling problem of thin elastic plates. As the governing equations involve the coupled in-plane and out-of-plane deformations as the nonlinear terms, the boundary integral equations are formulated in terms of the increment by using the fundamental solutions for the linear parts of the differential operators. Some of the innovations are made in order to improve the accuracy and accelerate the convergence of the solution procedure. The load-incrementation method and also the arc-length-incrementation method are employed for each incremental step. Numerical analysis is carried out and the results are compared with the available analytical solutions to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

BEM formulation for von Kármán plates

This work deals with nonlinear geometric plates in the context of von Kármán's theory. The formulation is written such that only the boundary in-plane displacement and deflection integral equations for boundary collocations are required. At internal points, only out-of-plane rotation, curvature and in-plane internal force representations are used. Thus, only integral representations of these values are derived. The nonlinear system of equations is derived by approximating all densities in the domain integrals as single values, which therefore reduces the computational effort needed to evaluate the domain value influences. Hyper-singular equations are avoided by approximating the domain values using only internal nodes. The solution is obtained using a Newton scheme for which a consistent tangent operator was derived.     

Influence of neutral surface position on the nonlinear stability behavior of functionally graded plates

Nonlinear behavior of functionally graded material (FGM) skew plates under in-plane load is investigated here using a shear deformable finite element method. The material is graded in the thickness direction and a simple power law based on the rule of mixture is used to estimate the effective material properties. The neutral surface position for such FGM plates is determined and the first order shear deformation theory based on exact neutral surface position is employed here. The present model is compared with the conventional mid-surface based formulation, which uses extension-bending coupling matrix to include the noncoincidence of neutral surface with the geometric mid-surface for unsymmetric plates. The nonlinear governing equations are solved through Newton–Raphson technique. The nonlinear behavior of FGM skew plates under compressive and tensile in-plane load are examined considering different system parameters such as constituent gradient index, boundary condition, thickness-to-span ratio and skew angle. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Benchmark solution for free vibration of functionally graded moderately thick annular sector plates

In the present article, an exact analytical solution for free vibration analysis of a moderately thick functionally graded (FG) annular sector plate is presented. Based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory, five coupled partial differential equations of motion are obtained without any simplification. Doing some mathematical manipulations, these highly coupled equations are converted into a sixth-order and a fourth-order decoupled partial differential equation. The decoupled equation are solved analytically for an FG annular sector plate with simply supported radial edges. The accurate natural frequencies of the FG annular sector plates with nine different boundary conditions are presented for several aspect ratios, some thickness/length ratios, different sector angles, and various power law indices. The results show that variations of the thickness, aspect ratio, sector angle, and boundary condition of the FG annular sector plates can change the vibration wave number. Also for an FG annular sector plate with one free edge, in opposite to the other boundary conditions, the natural frequency decreases with increasing the aspect ratio for small aspect ratios. Moreover, the mode shape contour plots are depicted for an FG annular sector plate with various boundary conditions. The accurate natural frequencies of FG annular sector plates are presented for the first time and can serve as a benchmark solution.     

Accurate solution for free vibration analysis of functionally graded thick rectangular plates resting on elastic foundation

Vibration analysis of a functionally graded rectangular plate resting on two parameter elastic foundation is presented here. The displacement filed based on the third order shear deformation plate theory is used. By considering the in-plane displacement components of an arbitrary material point on the mid-plane of the plate and using Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of motion are obtained which are five highly coupled partial differential equations. An analytical approach is employed to decouple these partial differential equations. The decoupled equations of functionally graded rectangular plate resting on elastic foundation are solved analytically for levy type of boundary conditions. The numerical results are presented and discussed for a wide range of plate and foundation parameters. The results show that the Pasternak (shear) elastic foundation drastically changes the natural frequency. It is also observed that in some boundary conditions, the in-plane displacements have significant effects on natural frequency of thick functionally graded plates and they cannot be ignored.     

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

Natural frequencies and buckling stresses of plates made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) are analyzed by taking into account the effects of transverse shear and normal deformations and rotatory inertia. The modulus of elasticity of the plates 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 displacement components, a set of fundamental dynamic equations of a two-dimensional (2-D) higher-order theory for rectangular functionally graded (FG) plates is derived through Hamilton’s principle. Several sets of truncated approximate theories are applied to solve the eigenvalue problems of FG plates with simply supported edges. In order to assure the accuracy of the present theory, convergence properties of the fundamental natural frequency are examined in detail. Critical buckling stresses of FG plates subjected to in-plane stresses are also obtained and a relation between the buckling stress and natural frequency of simply supported FG plates without in-plane stresses is presented. The distributions of modal displacements and modal stresses in the thickness direction are obtained accurately by satisfying the surface boundary conditions of a plate. The modal transverse stresses have been obtained by integrating the three-dimensional equations of motion in the thickness direction starting from the top or bottom surface of a plate. The present numerical results are also verified by satisfying the energy balance of external and internal works are considered to be sufficient with respect to the accuracy of solutions. It is noticed that the present 2-D higher-order approximate theories can predict accurately the natural frequencies and buckling stresses of simply supported FG plates.     

Levy Solution for Buckling Analysis of Functionally Graded Rectangular Plates

In this article, an analytical method for buckling analysis of thin functionally graded (FG) rectangular plates is presented. It is assumed that the material properties of the plate vary through the thickness of the plate as a power function. Based on the classical plate theory (Kirchhoff theory), the governing equations are obtained for functionally graded rectangular plates using the principle of minimum total potential energy. The resulting equations are decoupled and solved for rectangular plate with different loading conditions. It is assumed that the plate is simply supported along two opposite edges and has arbitrary boundary conditions along the other edges. The critical buckling loads are presented for a rectangular plate with different boundary conditions, various powers of FGM and some aspect ratios.     

前屈曲耦合变形对FGM圆板稳定性的影响

功能梯度材料结构沿厚度方向具有非均匀性,在其本构关系中会存在拉伸-弯曲耦合效应。在某些条件下,由于这个耦合效应的存在会引起前屈曲耦合变形,因此只要施加面内外载荷,就会伴随该载荷而产生耦合挠度。该文基于经典非线性板理论,导出了计及前屈曲耦合变形时功能梯度圆板稳定性问题的基本方程,并给出了判断功能梯度圆板是否发生屈曲现象的方法。用打靶方法对所得方程进行了数值求解,并利用数值结果研究了在不同边界条件和不同外因素下前屈曲耦合变形对功能梯度圆板稳定性的影响。     

Hygrothermo-mechanical buckling of FGM plates resting on elastic foundations using a quasi-3D model

Hygrothermal and mechanical buckling responses of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on Winkler–Pasternak’s foundations are presented in this paper using a refined quasi-3D model. The effects due to transverse normal strain and shear deformation are both included. The present model exactly satisfies stress boundary conditions on the upper and lower surfaces of the FG plate without using shear correction factors. It is assumed that the material properties vary according to a power law of the thickness coordinate variable. The hygrothermal buckling equilibrium equations are derived from the principle of virtual work for FG plates resting on Winkler–Pasternak’s foundations with simply-supported boundary conditions. Two types of thermal and hygrothermal loading, uniform thermal and hygrothermal rise, linear thermal and hygrothermal distribution through the thickness are considered. Numerical results are presented to verify the accuracy of the present study. The effects played by Winkler–Pasternak’s parameters, plate aspect ratio, side-to-thickness ratio, gradient index, and loading type on the critical buckling of the FG plates are all investigated.     

Bending response of functionally graded plates by using a new higher order shear deformation theory

This paper presents an analytical solution to the static analysis of functionally graded plates, using a recently developed higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) and provides detailed comparisons with other HSDT’s available in the literature. These theories account for adequate distribution of the transverse shear strains through the plate thickness and tangential stress-free boundary conditions on the plate boundary surfaces, thus a shear correction factor is not required. The mechanical properties of the plates are assumed to vary in the thickness direction according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The governing equations of a functionally graded (FG) plate and boundary conditions are derived by employing the principle of virtual work. Navier-type analytical solution is obtained for FG plates subjected to transverse bi-sinusoidal and distributed loads for simply supported boundary conditions. Results are provided for thick to thin FG plates and for different volume fraction distributions. The accuracy of the present code is verified by comparing it with known results in the literature.     

Forced vibration of sinusoidal FG nanobeams resting on hybrid Kerr foundation in hygro-thermal environments

Size-dependent forced vibration behavior of functionally graded (FG) nanobeams subjected to an in-plane hygro-thermal loading and lateral concentrated and uniform dynamic loads is investigated via a higher-order refined beam theory, which captures shear deformation influences needless of any shear correction factor. The nanobeam is in contact with a three-parameter Kerr foundation consisting of upper and lower spring layers as well as a shear layer. Hygro-thermo-elastic material properties of the nanobeam are described via power-law distribution considering exact position of the neutral axis. Through nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen and Hamilton's principle, the governing equations of higher-order FG nanobeams on Kerr foundation under dynamic loading are derived. These equations are solved for simply-supported and clamped-clamped boundary conditions. A detailed parametric study is performed to show the importance of moisture concentration rise, temperature rise, material composition, nonlocality, Kerr foundation parameters, and boundary conditions on forced vibration characteristics and resonance frequencies of FG nanobeams. As a consequence, Kerr foundation parameters lead to a significant delay in the occurrence of resonance frequencies.     

Isogeometric analysis for flexural behavior of composite plates considering large deformation with small rotations

A large deformation theory, so-called Green strains with small rotations, is proposed and employed for flexural analysis of composite plates. Isogeometric analysis cooperated with first-order shear deformation theory is used to derive finite element models. Strain-displacement relations in the sense of von-Kármán theory and the proposed theory are formulated. Shear locking phenomenon is avoided by using reduced integration technique. Newton–Raphson method is employed for nonlinear analysis procedure. Numerical examples, including isotropic and laminated composite plates under different boundary conditions, are investigated. The results have been verified with those available in the literature and show the advantages of the proposed strain theory.     

Thermal effects on nonlinear vibrations of functionally graded doubly curved shells using higher order shear deformation theory

Geometrically nonlinear vibrations of functionally graded (FG) doubly curved shells subjected to thermal variations and harmonic excitation are investigated via multi-modal energy approach. Two different nonlinear higher-order shear deformation theories are considered and it is assumed that the shell is simply supported with movable edges. Using Lagrange equations of motion, the energy functional is reduced to a system of infinite nonlinear ordinary differential equations with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities which is truncated based on solution convergence. A pseudo-arclength continuation and collocation scheme is employed to obtain numerical solutions for shells subjected to static and harmonic loads. The effects of FGM power law index, thickness ratio and temperature variations on the frequency–amplitude nonlinear response are fully discussed and it is revealed that, for relatively thick and deep shells, the Amabili–Reddy theory which retains all the nonlinear terms in the in-plane displacements gives different and more accurate results.     

Large deformation analysis of moderately thick laminated plates on nonlinear elastic foundations by DQM

In this paper, the nonlinear behavior of symmetric and antisymmetric cross ply, thin to moderately thick, elastic rectangular laminated plates resting on nonlinear elastic foundations are studied using differential quadrature method (DQM). The first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) in conjunction with the Green’s strain and von Karman hypothesis are assumed for modeling the nonlinear behavior. Elastic foundation is modeled as shear deformable with cubic nonlinearity. The differential quadrature (DQ) discretized form of the governing equations with the various types of boundary conditions are derived. The Newton–Raphson iterative scheme is employed to solve the resulting system of nonlinear algebraic equations. Comparisons are made and the convergence studies are performed to show the accuracy of the results even with a few number of grid points. The effects of thickness-to-length ratio, aspect ratio, number of plies, fiber orientation and staking sequence on the nonlinear behavior of cross ply laminated plates with different boundary conditions resting on elastic foundations are studied.     

Nonlinear vibration and postbuckling of orthotropic thin annular plates

This paper presents an approximate analytical solution of the geometrically nonlinear elastic axisymmetric response of polar orthotropic thin annular plates. Plates with outer edges elastically restrained against rotation and inplane displacement and with unsupported inner edges are considered. Von Kármán type equations are employed. The deflection is approximated by a one term mode shape satisfying the boundary conditions. Galerkin's method is used to obtain Duffing's equation for the deflection at the inner edge. Nonlinear frequencies, postbuckling response, static response and maximum deflection response under a step load are obtained. It is shown that good engineering accuracy is achieved by the approximate method.     

An analytical study on the nonlinear free vibration of functionally graded nanobeams incorporating surface effects

Nonlinear free vibration of simply supported FG nanoscale beams with considering surface effects (surface elasticity, tension and density) and balance condition between the FG nanobeam bulk and its surfaces is investigated in this paper. The non-classical beam model is developed within the framework of Euler–Bernoulli beam theory including the von Kármán geometric nonlinearity. The component of the bulk stress, σ_zz, is assumed to vary cubically through the nanobeam thickness and satisfies the balance conditions between the FG nanobeam bulk and its surfaces. Accordingly, surface density is introduced into the governing equation of the nonlinear free vibration of FG nanobeams. The multiple scales method is employed as an analytical solution for the nonlinear governing equation to obtain the nonlinear natural frequencies of FG nanbeams. Several comparison studies are carried out to demonstrate the effect of considering the balance conditions on free nonlinear vibration of FG nanobeams. Lastly, the influences of the FG nanobeam length, volume fraction index, amplitude ratio, mode number and thickness ratio on the normalized nonlinear natural frequencies of the FG nanobeams are discussed in detail.