Analytical non-linear analysis of functionally graded sandwich solid/annular sector plates

Abstract

Nonlinear behavior of functionally graded (FG) sandwich circular sector plates with simply supported radial edges under transverse loading is investigated using the first-order shear deformation theory with von Karman geometric nonlinearity. The nonlinear governing equations are reformulated and solved via single-parameter perturbation and Fourier series methods. Verification is performed by comparing numerical results with the available ones in the literature and the ones obtained via ABAQUS code. The effects of non-linearity, material constant, lay-up, and boundary conditions on bending of FG sandwich sector plates with FG core/homogenous face sheets and metallic core/FG face sheets are studied. It is shown that in sandwich plates with an FG core, the deflection and maximum tensile stress decrease by using thinner homogenous face sheets and in ones with a metallic core, increasing the thickness of FG face sheets reduces the maximum tensile and compressive stresses, while the total thickness is considered the same in all layups. Furthermore, in bending analysis of FG sandwich sector plates, linear theory is adequate for w/h<1 in plates with free circular edges, it is solely applicable for w/h<0.2 in plates with clamped circular edges and is inadequate for analysis of fully simply supported FG sandwich sector plate.