A novel and simple higher order shear deformation theory for stability and vibration of functionally graded sandwich plate

Abstract

In this work, a new higher shear deformation theory (HSDT) is developed for the free vibration and buckling of functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates. The proposed theory presents a new displacement field by using undetermined integral terms. Only four unknowns are employed in this theory, which is less than the classical first shear deformation theory (FSDT) and others HSDTs. Equations of motion are obtained via Hamilton\'s principle. The analytical solutions of FG sandwich plates are determined by employing the Navier method. A good agreement between the computed results and the available solutions of existing HSDTs is found to prove the accuracy of the developed theory.