A higher-order shear and normal deformation functionally graded plate model: some recent results

A higher-order shear and normal deformations plate theory is employed for stress analysis and free vibration of functionally graded (FG) elastic, rectangular, and simply (diaphragm) supported plates. Although functionally graded materials (FGMs) are highly heterogeneous in nature, they are generally idealized as continua with their mechanical properties changing smoothly with respect to the spatial coordinates. This idealization is required in order to obtain the closed-form solutions of some fundamental solid mechanics problems and also simplify the evaluation and development of numerical models of the structures made of FGMs. The material properties of FG plates such as Young’s moduli and material density are considered in this case to vary continuously in the thickness direction according to the volume fraction of constituents and mathematically modeled as exponential and power law functions. Poisson’s ratio is assumed to be constant. The effect of variation of material properties in terms of material grading index on the deformations, stresses, and natural frequency of FG plates is studied. The accuracy of the presented numerical solutions has been established with the solutions available of other models and the exact three-dimensional (3D) elasticity solutions.