THERMO-ELASTIC ANALYSIS OF FGM PLATES BASED ON HIGHER ORDER REFINED COMPUTATIONAL MODEL

Abstract

In this paper, analytical formulations and solutions hitherto not reported in the literature are presented for the thermally loaded simply supported Functionally Graded Material (FGM) plates. Higher order refined computational model with twelve degrees-offreedom based on Taylor’s series of expansion of displacements, which includes the effect of transverse shear and transverse normal stress / strain is considered for the study. The equations of equilibrium are obtained using Principle of Minimum Potential Energy (PMPE) and closed form solutions using Navier’s Solution technique. The material properties are assumed to vary according to power law function. The temperature across the plate thickness is assumed to be nonlinear and is solved based on one dimensional steady state heat conduction equation. The accuracy of the presented two-dimensional model is first established by comparing the results with the exact 3-D elasticity solutions already reported in the literature. Upon establishing the accuracy, numerical results are obtained for the FGM plates subjected to thermal loads with varying material and plate parameters. Studies are performed by varying the length to breadth ratio, side-to-thickness ratio and power law parameter. Bench mark results using the present model are presented for the displacements, in-plane and transverse stresses.