Analysis of Elastic Buckling and Static Bending Properties of Smart Functionally Graded Porous Beam

Abstract

Background: A Smart Functionally Graded (SFG) porous beam is a Functionally Graded (FG) Porous beam consisting of a piezo-electric layer integrated on the top layer. Aim: This research work addresses the lack of information by examining the bending as well as elastic buckling performance of SFG beams having two distinct Porosity Distributions (PDs). The main purpose of this research work is to study and analyze the bending deflections as well as CBLs of SFG beams with two different PDs, considering various boundary conditions, voltage levels (20V and 100V), and changes in slenderness ratio. Objective: The objectives of this work are as follows: to analyze the impact of variations in voltage levels and slenderness ratios on the critical buckling and bending properties of the SFG beam and to showcase the effect of variation in the slenderness ratio on the dimensionless normal stress through the thickness of the Hinge-Hinge beam. Method: The research work analyzes the elastic buckling as well as static bending of Smart Functionally Graded (SFG) porous beams, considering the equations derived from the Timoshenko beam theory. To simulate the results and analyze the various effects, the ANSYS software has been utilized in this paper. Results: This research work examines how the slenderness ratio impacts the maximum deflection, CBL, along with stress distribution. Experimental data demonstrates that as the slenderness ratio increases, CBL reduces, and maximum deflections in SFG porous beams increase. Also, it has been observed that normal stress distribution shifts from linear to non-linear and changes significantly. Further, the PDs significantly affect the static bending as well as the buckling performance of the beam. The symmetric distribution pattern provides superior buckling capability and enhanced bending resistance compared to the unsymmetric distribution pattern. Additionally, it has been found that as the voltage across the SFG increases, the buckling load increases and the deflection of the beam decreases. Conclusion: This research work has analyzed the effects of slenderness ratio and voltage level on the Critical Buckling Load (CBL) and bending properties of SFG porous beams, considering four different boundary conditions and a fixed set of parameters. The key findings of this paper are that as the slenderness ratio increases, the CBL decreases, and distribution shifts from linear to nonlinear region. Changes are significant, whereas maximum deflection increases. A significant effect is observed in the performance of static bending and buckling of SFG beams. It has been investigated that with an increase in voltage across the SFG beam, the buckling load increases, whereas the maximum deflection of the beam decreases.