Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach for vibrational behavior of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced plate resting on elastic foundation

In this study, based on the three-dimensional theory of elasticity, free vibration characteristics of functionally graded (FG) nanocomposite plates reinforced by randomly-oriented straight single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) resting on an elastic foundation are considered. Material properties are graded in the thickness direction of the plate according to the volume fraction power law distribution. An embedded carbon nanotube (CNT) in a polymer matrix and its surrounding inter-phase which is perfectly bonded to surrounding resin is replaced with an equivalent fiber to predict the mechanical properties of the carbon nanotube/polymer composite. The Mori-Tanaka approach is employed to calculate the effective elastic moduli of the plate. The natural frequencies of the plate are obtained by means of the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method. Detailed parametric studies have been carried out to investigate the influences of the CNT volume fraction, Winkler foundation modulus, shear elastic foundation modulus and various geometrical parameters on the vibration behavior of the functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced (FG-CNTR) plates.     

Buckling analysis of FGM plates under uniform,linear and non-linear in-plane loading

The paper investigates the buckling responses of functionally graded material (FGM) plate subjected to uniform, linear, and non-linear in-plane loads. New nonlinear in-plane load models are proposed based on trigonometric and exponential function. Non-dimensional critical buckling loads are evaluated using non-polynomial based higher order shear deformation theory. Navier’s method, which assures minimum numerical error, is employed to get an accurate explicit solution. The equilibrium conditions are determined utilizing the principle of virtual displacements and material property are graded in the thickness direction using simple Voigt model or exponential law. The present formulation is accurate and efficient in analyzing the behavior of thin, thick and moderately thick FGM plate for buckling analysis. It is found that with the help of displacement-buckling load curve, critical buckling load can be derived and maximum displacement due to the instability of inplane load can be obtained. Also, the randomness in the values of transverse displacement due to inplane load increases as the extent of uniformity of the load on the plate is disturbed. Furthermore, the parametric varying studies are performed to analyse the effect of span-to-thickness ratio, volume fraction exponent, aspect ratio, the shape parameter for non-uniform inplane load, and non-dimensional load parameter on the non-dimensional deflections, stresses, and critical buckling load for FGM plates.

     

Axisymmetric free vibration of thick annular plates

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the axisymmetric free vibration of moderately thick annular plates using the differential quadrature method (DQM). The plates are described by Mindlin’s first-order shear-deformation theory. The first five axisymmetric natural frequencies are presented for uniform annular plates, of various radii and thickness ratios, with nine possible combinations of free, clamped and simply supported boundary conditions at the inner and outer edges of the plates. The accuracy of the method is established by comparing the DQM results with some exact and finite element numerical solutions and, therefore, the present DQM results could serve as a benchmark for future reference. The convergence characteristics of the method for thick plate eigenvalue problems are investigated and the versatility and simplicity of the method is established.     

Geometrically nonlinear vibration analysis of piezoelectrically actuated FGM plate with an initial large deformation

A theoretical model for geometrically nonlinear vibration analysis of piezoelectrically actuated circular plates made of functionally grade material (FGM) is presented based on Kirchhoff’s-Love hypothesis with von-Karman type geometrical large nonlinear deformations. To determine the initial stress state and pre-vibration deformations of the smart plate a nonlinear static problem is solved followed by adding an incremental dynamic state to the pre-vibration state. The derived governing equations of the structure are solved by exact series expansion method combined with perturbation approach. The material properties of the FGM core plate are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction according to the power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Control of the FGM plate’s nonlinear deflections and natural frequencies using high control voltages is studied and their nonlinear effects are evaluated. Numerical results for FG plates with various mixture of ceramic and metal are presented in dimensionless forms. In a parametric study the emphasis is placed on investigating the effect of varying the applied actuator voltage as well as gradient index of FGM plate on vibration characteristics of the smart structure. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Eung-Soo Shin Farzad Ebrahimi received his B.S. and M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Tehran, Iran. He is currently working on his Ph.D. thesis under the title of “Vibration analysis of smart functionally graded plates” at Smart Materials and Structures Lab in Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Tehran. His research interests include vibration analysis of plates and shells, smart materials and structures and functionally graded materials.     

A new exact analytical approach for free vibration of Reissner-Mindlin functionally graded rectangular plates

An exact closed-form procedure is presented for free vibration analysis of moderately thick rectangular plates having two opposite edges simply supported (i.e. Lévy-type rectangular plates) based on the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory. The material properties change continuously through the thickness of the plate, which can vary according to a power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. By introducing some new potential and auxiliary functions, the displacement fields are analytically obtained for this plate configuration. Several comparison studies with analytical and numerical techniques reported in literature are carried out to establish the high accuracy and reliability of the solutions. Comprehensive benchmark results for natural frequencies of the functionally graded (FG) rectangular plates with six different combinations of boundary conditions (i.e. SSSS-SSSC-SCSC-SCSF-SSSF-SFSF) are tabulated in dimensionless form for various values of aspect ratios, thickness to length ratios and the power law index. Due to the inherent features of the present exact closed-form solution, the present results will be a useful benchmark for evaluating the accuracy of other analytical and numerical methods, which will be developed by researchers in the future.     

Dynamic responses of a functionally graded pyroelectric hollow sphere for spherically symmetric problems

The spherically symmetric thermoelastic problem of a functionally graded pyroelectric hollow sphere is considered. The functionally graded material is restricted to the variations of density and other material constants as a certain power of the radial distance. By virtue of the introduction of a dependent variable as well as the separation of variables technique, a Volterra integral equation of the second kind related to a function with respect to time is derived, which is solved successfully by using an interpolation polynomial to approximate the unknown function. The corresponding recursive formulae are derived, based on which numerical solution can be obtained step by step. The present method can provide accurate numerical results efficiently and is suitable for a functionally graded pyroelectric hollow sphere with an arbitrary thickness and subjected to arbitrary spherically symmetric thermal loads. Numerical results are finally presented.     

FGM and laminated doubly curved shells and panels of revolution with a free-form meridian: A 2-D GDQ solution for free vibrations

In this paper, the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is applied to study the dynamic behavior of functionally graded materials (FGMs) and laminated doubly curved shells and panels of revolution with a free-form meridian. The First-order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT) is used to analyze the above mentioned moderately thick structural elements. In order to include the effect of the initial curvature a generalization of the Reissner-Mindlin theory, proposed by Toorani and Lakis, is adopted. The governing equations of motion, written in terms of stress resultants, are expressed as functions of five kinematic parameters, by using the constitutive and kinematic relationships. The solution is given in terms of generalized displacement components of points lying on the middle surface of the shell. Simple Rational Bézier curves are used to define the meridian curve of the revolution structures. Firstly, the differential quadrature (DQ) rule is introduced to determine the geometric parameters of the structures with a free-form meridian. Secondly, the discretization of the system by means of the GDQ technique leads to a standard linear eigenvalue problem, where two independent variables are involved. Results are obtained taking the meridional and circumferential co-ordinates into account, without using the Fourier modal expansion methodology. Comparisons between the Reissner-Mindlin and the Toorani-Lakis theory are presented. Furthermore, GDQ results are compared with those obtained by using commercial programs such as Abaqus, Ansys, Nastran, Straus and Pro/Mechanica. Very good agreement is observed. Finally, different lamination schemes are considered to expand the combination of the two functionally graded four-parameter power-law distributions adopted. The treatment is developed within the theory of linear elasticity, when materials are assumed to be isotropic and inhomogeneous through the lamina thickness direction. A two-constituent functionally graded lamina consists of ceramic and metal those are graded through the lamina thickness. A parametric study is performed to illustrate the influence of the parameters on the mechanical behavior of shell and panel structures considered.     

Thermomechanical postbuckling analysis of moderately thick functionally graded plates and shallow shells

In this paper, an analytical solution is provided for the postbuckling behaviour of moderately thick plates and shallow shells made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) under edge compressive loads and a temperature field. The material properties of the functionally graded shells are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness of the shell, according to a power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The fundamental equations for moderately thick rectangular shallow shells of FGM are obtained using the von Karman theory for large transverse deflection and high-order shear deformation theory for moderately thick plates. The solution is obtained in terms of mixed Fourier series and the obtained results are compared with those of the Reissner–Mindlin's theory for moderately thick plates and the classical theory ignoring transverse shear deformation. The effect of material properties, boundary conditions and thermomechanical loading on the buckling behaviour and the associated stress field are determined and discussed. The results reveal that thermomechanical coupling effects and the boundary conditions play a major role in dictating the response of the functionally graded plates and shells under the action of edge compressive loads.     

Thermally induced buckling of functionally graded hybrid composite plates

In this paper, thermal buckling analysis is performed on hybrid functionally graded plates (FGPs) with an arbitrary initial stress. The governing equations are derived using the average stress method, including the effect of transverse shear deformation. Then, an eigenvalue problem is formed to evaluate thermal buckling temperatures for simple supported initially stressed ceramic-FGM-metal plates. The effects of functionally graded material (FGM) layer thickness, volume fraction index, layer thickness ratio, thickness ratio, aspect ratio and initial stress on the thermal buckling temperature of hybrid FGPs are investigated. The results reveal that the volume fraction index, initial stresses and FGM layer thickness have significant influence on the thermal buckling of hybrid FGPs.     

Vibration amplitude and thermal effects on the nonlinear behavior of thin circular functionally graded plates

In this paper, the nonlinear free axisymmetric vibration of a thin circular functionally graded plate in thermal environment is formulated in terms of von-Karman's dynamic equations, and a semi-analytical approach is developed. The plate thickness is constant and the material properties of the functionally graded plate are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness, according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. For harmonic vibrations, by using assumed-time-mode method and Kantorovich time averaging technique, governing equations are solved. The nonlinear frequencies and associated stresses are determined at large amplitudes of vibration. Effects of material compositions and thermal loads on the vibration characteristics and stresses are examined. The numerical results obtained here are compared with available published results, based on various approaches.     

A four variable refined plate theory for nonlinear cylindrical bending analysis of functionally graded plates under thermomechanical loadings

In this paper we present a new application for a four variable refined plate theory to analyse the nonlinear cylindrical bending behavior of functionally graded plates subjected to thermomechanical loadings. This recent theory is based on the assumption that the transverse displacements consist of bending and shear components in which the bending components do not contribute toward shear forces and, likewise, the shear components do not contribute toward bending moments. The theory accounts for a quadratic variation of the transverse shear strains across the thickness, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factors. The material properties are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness of the plate according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The non-linear strain-displacement relations in the von Karman sense are used to study the effect of geometric non-linearity. The solutions are achieved by minimizing the total potential energy and the results are compared to the classical and the first-order theories reported in the literature. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the nonlinear cylindrical bending behavior of functionally graded plates.     

Thermal buckling of functionally graded rectangular plates subjected to partial heating

We present the thermal buckling analysis of functionally graded rectangular plates subjected to partial heating in a plane and uniform temperature rise through its thickness. The plate is simply supported for out-of-plane deformation and perfectly clamped for in-plane deformation. It is assumed that the functionally graded material properties such as the coefficient of linear thermal expansion and Young's modulus are changed individually in the thickness direction of the plate with the power law, while Poisson's ratio is assumed to be constant. Analytical developments consist of two stages. First, the nonuniform in-plane resultant forces are determined by solving a plane thermoelastic problem. Then the critical buckling temperatures of the plates with the predetermined resultant forces are calculated as the generalized eigenvalue problem which is constructed by using the Galerkin method. Finally, the effects of material inhomogeneity, aspect ratio, and heated region on the critical buckling temperatures are examined.     

A new hyperbolic shear deformation theory for buckling and vibration of functionally graded sandwich plate

A new hyperbolic shear deformation theory taking into account transverse shear deformation effects is presented for the buckling and free vibration analysis of thick functionally graded sandwich plates. Unlike any other theory, the theory presented gives rise to only four governing equations. Number of unknown functions involved is only four, as against five in case of simple shear deformation theories of Mindlin and Reissner (first shear deformation theory). The plate properties are assumed to be varied through the thickness following a simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of material constituents. The theory presented is variationally consistent, does not require shear correction factor, and gives rise to transverse shear stress variation such that the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness satisfying shear stress free surface conditions. Equations of motion are derived from Hamilton's principle. The closed-form solutions of functionally graded sandwich plates are obtained using the Navier solution. The results obtained for plate with various thickness ratios using the theory are not only substantially more accurate than those obtained using the classical plate theory, but are almost comparable to those obtained using higher order theories with more number of unknown functions.     

Frequency correspondence between membranes and functionally graded spherical shallow shells of polygonal planform

The present work presents further development of the linking relationships between vibration frequencies predicted by different theories, and they are extended from a flat plate to a spherical shallow shell. In analogy with the membrane vibration problem, exact correspondences are found for vibration frequencies of a functionally graded spherical shallow shell using the classical theory and the first-order and third-order shear deformation theories. Only the predominantly stretching and thickness-shear vibration of dilatational type and predominantly flexural vibration are considered in this work. They are decoupled from the predominantly stretching and thickness-shear vibration of rotational type. These results apply to a simply supported functionally graded spherical shallow shell of polygonal planform with arbitrarily varying material properties in the thickness direction. A Winkler–Pasternak elastic foundation and rotary inertias are incorporated. It is proved that the mathematical analogy warrants positive free vibration frequencies for the shallow shell. Mori–Tanaka's scheme is used to estimate the material properties in the numerical results.     

Nonlinear bending response of functionally graded plates subjected to transverse loads and in thermal environments

Nonlinear bending analysis is presented for a simply supported, functionally graded rectangular plate subjected to a transverse uniform or sinusoidal load and in thermal environments. Material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent, and graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The governing equations of a functionally graded plate are based on Reddy's higher-order shear deformation plate theory that includes thermal effects. Two cases of the in-plane boundary conditions are considered. A mixed Galerkin-perturbation technique is employed to determine the load-deflection and load-bending moment curves. The numerical illustrations concern nonlinear bending response of functional graded rectangular plates with two constituent materials. The influences played by temperature rise, the character of in-plane boundary conditions, transverse shear deformation, plate aspect ratio and volume fraction distributions are studied.     

Analysis of the vibration behavior of FGM cylindrical shells including internal pressure and ring support effects based on Love-Kirchhoff theory with various boundary conditions

This paper presents the study on vibration behavior of functionally graded material (FGM) cylindrical shell with the effects of internal pressure and ring support. The FGM properties are graded along the thickness direction of the shell. The FGM shell equations with internal pressure and ring support are established based on strain-displacement relationship using Love-Kirchhoff shell theory. The governing equations of motion were solved by using energy functional and by applying Ritz method. The boundary conditions represented by end conditions of the FGM cylindrical shell are simply supported-simply supported (SS-SS), clamped-clamped (C-C), free-free (F-F), clamped-free (C-F), clamped-simply supported (C-SS), free-simply supported (F-SS), free-sliding (F-SL) and clamped-sliding (C-SL). To check the validity and accuracy of the present method, the results obtained are compared with those available in the literature. The influence of internal pressure, ring support position and the effect of the different boundary conditions on natural frequencies characteristics are studied. These results presented can be used as important benchmark for researchers to validate their numerical methods when studying natural frequencies of shells with internal pressure and ring support.     

A novel approach for in-plane/out-of-plane frequency analysis of functionally graded circular/annular plates

An exact closed-form frequency equation is presented for free vibration analysis of circular and annular moderately thick FG plates based on the Mindlin's first-order shear deformation plate theory. The edges of plate may be restrained by different combinations of free, soft simply supported, hard simply supported or clamped boundary conditions. The material properties change continuously through the thickness of the plate, which can vary according to a power-law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents, whereas Poisson's ratio is set to be constant. The equilibrium equations which govern the dynamic stability of plate and its natural boundary conditions are derived by the Hamilton's principle. Several comparison studies with analytical and numerical techniques reported in literature and the finite element analysis are carried out to establish the high accuracy and superiority of the presented method. Also, these comparisons prove the numerical accuracy of solutions to calculate the in-plane and out-of-plane modes. The influences of the material property, graded index, thickness to outer radius ratios and boundary conditions on the in-plane and out-of-plane frequency parameters are also studied for different functionally graded circular and annular plates.     

Closed-form vibration analysis of thick annular functionally graded plates with integrated piezoelectric layers

This paper employs an analytical method to analyze vibration of piezoelectric coupled thick annular functionally graded plates (FGPs) subjected to different combinations of soft simply supported, hard simply supported and clamped boundary conditions at the inner and outer edges of the annular plate on the basis of the Reddy's third-order shear deformation theory (TSDT). The properties of host plate are graded in the thickness direction according to a volume fraction power-law distribution. The distribution of electric potential along the thickness direction in the piezoelectric layer is assumed as a sinusoidal function so that the Maxwell static electricity equation is approximately satisfied. The differential equations of motion are solved analytically for various boundary conditions of the plate. In this study closed-form expressions for characteristic equations, displacement components of the plate and electric potential are derived for the first time in the literature. The present analysis is validated by comparing results with those in the literature and then natural frequencies of the piezoelectric coupled annular FG plate are presented in tabular and graphical forms for different thickness-radius ratios, inner-outer radius ratios, thickness of piezoelectric, material of piezoelectric, power index and boundary conditions.     

Thermal postbuckling behavior of shear deformable FGM plates with temperature-dependent properties

Thermal postbuckling analysis is presented for a simply supported, shear deformable functionally graded plate under thermal loading. Two cases of temperature field, i.e. in-plane non-uniform parabolic temperature distribution and heat conduction are considered. The material properties of functionally graded materials (FGMs) 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, and the material properties of FGM layers are assumed to be temperature-dependent. The governing equations are based on a higher-order shear deformation plate theory that includes thermal effects. The initial geometric imperfection of the plate is taken into account. A two-step perturbation technique is employed to determine buckling temperature and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the thermal postbuckling behavior of perfect and imperfect, geometrically mid-plane symmetric FGM plates under different sets of loading conditions. The results reveal that the temperature dependency has a significant effect on the thermal postbuckling behavior of FGM plates. The results also confirm that for the case of heat conduction, the postbuckling path for geometrically perfect plates is no longer of the bifurcation type.     

The free vibration analysis and optimal design of an adhesively bonded functionally graded single lap joint

In this study, three-dimensional free vibration and stress analyses of an adhesively bonded functionally graded single lap joint were carried. The effects of the adhesive material properties, such as modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio and density were found to be negligible on the first ten natural frequencies and mode shapes of the adhesive joint. Both the finite element method and the back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN) method were used to investigate the effects of the geometrical parameters, such as overlap length, plate thickness and adhesive thickness; and the material composition variation through the plate thickness on the natural frequencies, mode shapes and modal strain energy of the adhesive joint. The suitable ANN models were trained successfully using a series of free vibration and stress analyses for various random geometrical parameters and compositional gradient exponents. The ANN models showed that the support length, the plate thickness and the compositional gradient exponent played important role on the natural frequencies, mode shapes and modal strain energies of the adhesive joint whereas the adhesive thickness had a minor effect. In addition, the optimal joint dimensions and compositional gradient exponent were determined using genetic algorithm and ANN models so that the maximum natural frequency and the minimum modal strain energy conditions are satisfied for each natural frequency of the adhesively bonded functionally graded single lap joint.