Bending Analysis of FGM Plates Under Thermal Load

Abstract

In this paper, the bending of thin functionally graded plates under thermal load is considered within the classical theory of thermoelasticity. The variable material properties of plate (such as the Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient, etc.) are allowed to be continuous functions of the position. The governing equations which are given by the 4th order partial differential equations are decomposed into the 2nd order partial differential equations in order to overcome the inaccuracy of approximation of high order derivatives of field variables. The strong form meshless formulations for solution of thin plate bending problem is developed in combination with Moving Least Squares approximation scheme. The attention is paid to the numerical investigation of the influence of several parameters of gradations of material coefficients on the deflection of the plate.