Buckling and postbuckling of functionally graded porous material nearly cylindrical shells under external lateral pressure in thermal environments

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the buckling and postbuckling of nearly cylindrical shell (NCS) made of functionally graded porous material (FGPM) and subjected to external lateral pressure (ELP) in thermal environments. The variation of two material constituents through the shell thickness is modelled by a power-law distribution. Porosities are assumed to distribute into FGPM according to forms of cosine functions. Basic equations in terms of deflection and stress function are established within the framework of classical shell theory taking into account von Kármán – Donnell nonlinearity. Boundary edges of the NCS are assumed to be simply supported and tangentially restrained. Multi-term analytical solutions are assumed and Galerkin method is used to derive expressions of buckling loads and nonlinear load–deflection relation. Parametric studies are carried out to assess the effects of coefficient and distribution type of porosity, thermal environments, geometry properties and in-plane boundary condition on the critical loads and postbuckling strength of pressure-loaded FGPM NCSs.