Nonlinear theories of axisymmetric bending of functionally graded circular plates with modified couple stress

A microstructure-dependent nonlinear theory for axisymmetric bending of circular plates, which accounts for through-thickness power-law variation of a two-constituent material, is developed using the principle of virtual displacements. The formulation is based on a modified couple stress theory, power-law variation of the material, temperature-dependent properties, and the von Kármán geometric nonlinearity. Classical and first-order shear deformation theories are considered in the study. The modified couple stress theory contains a material length scale parameter that can capture the size effect in a functionally graded material plate. The theories presented herein can be used to develop analytical solutions of bending, buckling, and free vibration for the linear case and finite-element models for the nonlinear case to determine the effect of the geometric nonlinearity, power-law index, and microstructure-dependent constitutive relations on linear and nonlinear response of axisymmetric analysis of circular plates.     

Modeling of functionally graded smart plates with gradient elasticity effects

ABSTRACT

In this article, the equations of motion for functionally graded plates with surface-mounted piezoelectric layers, while accounting for the gradient elasticity through the modified couple stress model and linear piezoelectricity, are derived using Hamilton’s principle. The formulation includes the coupling between mechanical deformations and the charge equations of electrostatics. The mathematical model developed herein is an equivalent single layer theory for mechanical displacement field and the potential functions. The in-plane displacements are assumed to vary as cubic functions of the thickness coordinate while the transverse displacement is assumed to vary as a quadratic function of the thickness coordinate through plate thickness. The potential function is assumed as the combination of half cosine variation of electric potential and linear variation of applied voltage on outer surfaces. The approach described here is that standard plate models can be enhanced to include the coupling between the charge equations and the mechanical deformations as well as the size dependent effect of micro- and nano-scale structures. An analytical solution of the developed model is presented using the Navier solution technique. A parametric study is performed to study the effect of material variation through thickness of plates, length scale parameters to capture the size-dependent effects, and thickness ratio between piezoelectric layers and the whole plate.     

Imperfection sensitivity in the nonlinear vibration of initially stresses functionally graded plates

In this paper, the nonlinear partial differential equations of nonlinear vibration for an imperfect functionally graded plate (FGP) in a general state of arbitrary initial stresses are presented. The derived equations include the effects of initial stresses and initial imperfections size. The material properties of a FGP are graded continuously in the direction of thickness. The variation of the properties follows a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Using these derived governing equations, the nonlinear vibration of initially stressed FGPs with geometric imperfection was studied. The present approach employed a perturbation technique, the Galerkin method and the Runge–Kutta method. The perturbation technique was used to derive the nonlinear governing equations. The motion of imperfect FGPs was obtained by performing the Galerkin method and then solved by the Runge–Kutta method. Numerical solutions are presented for the performances of perfect and imperfect FGPs. The nonlinear vibration of a simply supported ceramic/metal FGP was solved. It is found that the initial stress, geometric imperfection and volume fraction index greatly change the behavior of nonlinear vibration.     

Study on the free vibration of thick functionally graded rectangular plates according to a new exact closed-form procedure

In this article, a new exact closed-form procedure is presented to solve free vibration analysis of functionally graded rectangular thick plates based on the Reddy’s third-order shear deformation plate theory while the plate has two opposite edges simply supported (i.e., Lévy-type rectangular plates). The elasticity modulus and mass density of the plate are assumed to vary according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents whereas Poisson’s ratio is constant. Based on the present solution, five governing complicated partial differential equations of motion were exactly solved by introducing the auxiliary and potential functions and using the method of separation of variables. The validity and high accuracy of the present solutions are investigated by comparing some of the present results with their counterparts reported in literature and the 3-D finite element analysis. It is obvious that the present exact solution can accurately predict not only the out of plane, but also the in-plane modes of FG plate. Furthermore, a new eigenfrequency parameter is defined having its special own characteristics. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, thickness to length ratio, aspect ratio and the power law index on the frequency parameter of the plate are presented.     

Size effect on dynamic stability of functionally graded microbeams based on a modified couple stress theory

Dynamic stability of microbeams made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) is investigated in this paper based on the modified couple stress theory and Timoshenko beam theory. This non-classical Timoshenko beam model contains a material length scale parameter and can interpret the size effect. The material properties of FGM microbeams are assumed to vary in the thickness direction and are estimated though Mori–Tanaka homogenization technique. The higher-order governing equations and boundary conditions are derived by using the Hamilton’s principle. The differential quadrature (DQ) method is employed to convert the governing differential equations into a linear system of Mathieu–Hill equations from which the boundary points on the unstable regions are determined by Bolotin’s method. Free vibration and static buckling are also discussed as subset problems. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the influences of the length scale parameter, gradient index and length-to-thickness ratio on the dynamic stability characteristics of FGM microbeams with hinged–hinged and clamped–clamped end supports. Results show that the size effect on the dynamic stability characteristics is significant only when the thickness of beam has a similar value to the material length scale parameter.     

A novel five-variable refined plate theory for vibration analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates

In this article, a new five-variable refined plate theory for the free vibration analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates is developed. By dividing the transverse displacement into bending, shear, and thickness stretching parts, the number of unknowns and governing equations of the present theory is reduced, and hence, makes it simple to use. Indeed, the number of unknown functions involved in the present theory is only five, as opposed to six or more in the case of other shear and normal deformation theories. The theory accounts for hyperbolic distribution of the transverse shear strains, and satisfies the zero traction boundary conditions on the surfaces of the plate without using a shear correction factor. Two common types of functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates, namely, the sandwich with FGM facesheet and homogeneous core and the sandwich with homogeneous facesheet and FGM core, are considered. The equations of motion are obtained using Hamilton's principle. Numerical results of the present theory are compared with three-dimensional elasticity solutions and other higher-order theories reported in the literature. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and efficient in predicting the free-vibration response of functionally graded sandwich plates.     

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.     

An extension to classical lamination theory for use with functionally graded plates

An extension to classical lamination theory is presented for the improved analysis of thin to moderately thick functionally graded plates. The method results in an explicit formulation that accommodates any through-thickness variation in the elastic, hygrothermal and piezoelectric properties of each layer. Additionally, variations in the material rotation angle, temperature, moisture content and electric field strength through each layer are taken into account. The method relies on representing with polynomial series the variation in both the properties of each ply and the hygrothermal and piezoelectric loading. Validation problems are presented that demonstrate the application and accuracy of the method.     

Static analysis of functionally graded plates using third-order shear deformation theory and a meshless method

The collocation multiquadric radial basis functions are used to analyze static deformations of a simply supported functionally graded plate modeled by a third-order shear deformation theory. The plate material is made of two isotropic constituents with their volume fractions varying only in the thickness direction. The macroscopic response of the plate is taken to be isotropic and the effective properties of the composite are derived either by the rule of mixtures or by the Mori–Tanaka scheme. Effects of aspect ratio of the plate and the volume fractions of the constituents on the centroidal deflection are scrutinized. When Poisson’s ratios of the two constituents are nearly equal, then the two homogenization techniques give results that are close to each other. However, for widely varying Poisson’s ratios of the two constituents, the two homogenization schemes give quite different results. The computed results are found to agree well with the solution of the problem by an alternative meshless method.     

Thermal buckling analysis of moderately thick functionally graded annular sector plates

In this article, thermal buckling analysis of moderately thick functionally graded annular sector plate is studied. The equilibrium and stability equations are derived using first order shear deformation plate theory. These equations are five highly coupled partial differential equations. By using an analytical method, the coupled stability equations are replaced by four decoupled equations. Solving the decoupled equations and satisfying the boundary conditions, the critical buckling temperature is found analytically. To this end, it is assumed that the annular sector plate is simply supported in radial edges and it has arbitrary boundary conditions along the circular edges. Thermal buckling of functionally graded annular sector plate for two types of thermal loading, uniform temperature rise and gradient through the thickness, are investigated. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, power law index, plate thickness, annularity and sector angle on the critical buckling temperature of functionally graded annular sector plates are discussed in details.     

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.     

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。      

Thermomechanical bending analysis of functionally graded sandwich plates with both functionally graded face sheets and functionally graded cores

The bending response of functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates subjected to thermomechanical loads is investigated using a four-variable refined plate theory. A new type of FGM sandwich plate, namely, both FGM face sheets and an FGM hard core, is considered. Containing only four unknown functions, the governing equations are deduced based on the principle of virtual work and then these equations are solved via the Navier approach. Analytical solutions are obtained to predict the deflections and stresses of simply supported FGM sandwich plates. Benchmark comparisons of the solutions obtained for a degradation model (functionally graded face sheets and homogeneous cores) with ones computed by several other theories are conducted to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the present approach. The influences of volume fraction distribution, geometrical parameters, and thermal load on dimensionless deflections and normal and shear stresses of the FGM sandwich plates are studied.     

The modified couple stress functionally graded Timoshenko beam formulation

In this paper, a size-dependent formulation is presented for Timoshenko beams made of a functionally graded material (FGM). The formulation is developed on the basis of the modified couple stress theory. The modified couple stress theory is a non-classic continuum theory capable to capture the small-scale size effects in the mechanical behavior of structures. The beam properties are assumed to vary through the thickness of the beam. The governing differential equations of motion are derived for the proposed modified couple-stress FG Timoshenko beam. The generally valid closed-form analytic expressions are obtained for the static response parameters. As case studies, the static and free vibration of the new model are respectively investigated for FG cantilever and FG simply supported beams in which properties are varying according to a power law. The results indicate that modeling beams on the basis of the couple stress theory causes more stiffness than modeling based on the classical continuum theory, such that for beams with small thickness, a significant difference between the results of these two theories is observed.     

Higher-order theory for functionally graded materials

This paper presents the full generalization of the Cartesian coordinate-based higher-order theory for functionally graded materials developed by the authors during the past several years. This theory circumvents the problematic use of the standard micromechanical approach, based on the concept of a representative volume element, commonly employed in the analysis of functionally graded composites by explicitly coupling the local (microstructural) and global (macrostructural) responses. The theoretical framework is based on volumetric averaging of the various field quantities, together with imposition of boundary and interfacial conditions in an average sense between the subvolumes used to characterize the composite's functionally graded microstructure. The generalization outlined herein involves extension of the theoretical framework to enable the analysis of materials characterized by spatially variable microstructures in three directions. Specialization of the generalized theoretical framework to previously published versions of the higher-order theory for materials functionally graded in one and two directions is demonstrated. In the applications part of the paper we summarize the major findings obtained with the one-directional and two-directional versions of the higher-order theory. The results illustrate both the fundamental issues related to the influence of microstructure on microscopic and macroscopic quantities governing the response of composites and the technologically important applications. A major issue addressed herein is the applicability of the classical homogenization schemes in the analysis of functionally graded materials. The technologically important applications illustrate the utility of functionally graded microstructures in tailoring the response of structural components in a variety of applications involving uniform and gradient thermomechanical loading.     

Analysis of thick functionally graded plates by using higher-order shear and normal deformable plate theory and MLPG method with radial basis functions

Infinitesimal deformations of a functionally graded thick elastic plate are analyzed by using a meshless local Petrov–Galerkin (MLPG) method, and a higher-order shear and normal deformable plate theory (HOSNDPT). Two types of Radial basis functions RBFs, i.e. Multiquadrics and Thin Plate Splines, are employed for constructing the trial solutions, while a fourth-order Spline function is used as the weight/test function over a local subdomain. Effective material moduli of the plate, made of two isotropic constituents with volume contents varying only in the thickness direction, are computed using the Mori–Tanaka homogenization technique. Computed results for a simply supported aluminum/ceramic plate are found to agree well with those obtained analytically. Results for a plate with two opposite edges free and the other two simply supported agree very well with those obtained by analyzing three-dimensional deformations of the plate by the finite element method. The distributions of the deflection and stresses through the plate thickness are also presented for different boundary conditions. It is found that both types of basis functions give accurate values of plate deflection, but the multiquadrics give better values of stresses than the thin plate splines.     

基于三阶剪切变形理论的压电功能梯度板静力学等几何分析

针对压电功能梯度板的静力学问题,建立了一种基于三阶剪切变形理论的等几何分析求解方法.其中,定义功能梯度板的材料属性为板厚方向的幂函数分布,并假设压电功能梯度板中的机械位移场与电势场相互独立.利用压电材料的第二类本构方程以及哈密顿变分原理,推导出压电功能梯度板的相关等几何有限元方程.在压电功能梯度板的自由振动分析中,研究...     

Three-dimensional thermomechanical buckling analysis for functionally graded composite plates

Three-dimensional thermomechanical buckling analysis is investigated for functionally graded composite structures that composed of ceramic, functionally graded material (FGM), and metal layers. Material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent, and in FGM layer, they are varied continuously in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the ceramic and metal volume fractions. The finite element model is adopted by using an 18-node solid element to analyze more accurately the variation of material properties and temperature field in the thickness direction. Temperature at each node is obtained by solving the thermomechanical equations. For a time discretization, Crank–Nicolson method is used. In numerical results, the thermal buckling behavior of FGM composite structures due to FGM thickness ratios, volume fraction distributions, and system geometric parameters are analyzed.     

Bending-stretching analysis of thick functionally graded micro-plates using higher-order shear and normal deformable plate theory

In the present article, higher-order shear and normal deformable plate theory together with modified couple stress theory are developed to study the bending analysis of thick functionally graded rectangular micro-plates. One material length scale parameter is used for capturing the size effects. Utilizing the variational approach and also a principle of virtual displacement, a new form of equilibrium equations and the corresponding boundary conditions are derived. It is assumed that material properties vary through the thickness according to the power law function. Finally, an analytical solution for the bending problem of a simply supported FG rectangular micro-plate is presented.     

Thermal post-buckling analysis of functionally graded material elliptical plates based on high-order shear deformation theory

Thermal post-buckling analysis is first presented for functionally graded elliptical plates based on high-order shear deformation theory in different thermal environments. Material properties are assumed to be temperature-dependent and graded in the thickness direction. Ritz method is employed to determine the central deflection-temperature curves, the validity of which can be confirmed by comparison with related researchers' results; it is worth noting that the forms of approximate solutions are well chosen in consideration of both simplicity and accuracy. Influences played by different supported boundaries, thermal environmental conditions, ratio of major to minor axis, and volume fraction index are discussed in detail.