Abstract
Using the finite element code ABAQUS and the user-defined material utilities UMAT and UMATHT, a solid brick graded finite element is developed for three-dimensional (3D) modeling of free vibrations of thermally loaded functionally gradient material (FGM) sandwich plates. The mechanical and thermal material properties of the FGM sandwich plates are assumed to vary gradually in the thickness direction, according to a power-law fraction distribution. Benchmark problems are firstly considered to assess the performance and accuracy of the proposed 3D graded finite element. Comparisons with the reference solutions revealed high efficiency and good capabilities of the developed element for the 3D simulations of thermomechanical and vibration responses of FGM sandwich plates. Some parametric studies are carried out for the frequency analysis by varying the volume fraction profile and the temperature distribution across the plate thickness.
Highlights
Sandwich panels are usually used instead of traditional structural elements made of metals and alloys, when increased strength and stiffness with little resultant weight are required for engineering applications [1,2,3]
The aim of this study is to propose an efficient approach for implementing a 3D graded finite element into ABAQUS code to perform a computationally accurate free vibration analysis of thermally loaded functionally gradient material (FGM) sandwich plates
We extend the functionality of the element to use it for modeling FGM
Summary
Sandwich panels are usually used instead of traditional structural elements made of metals and alloys, when increased strength and stiffness with little resultant weight are required for engineering applications [1,2,3]. Sandwich panels provide outstanding structural features, this structural design has drawbacks. A typical sandwich panel configuration has a high mismatch of material and geometrical properties between the face sheet and the core [4]. A variation of the interfacial stresses induced by thermal or/and mechanical loads is significant at the face sheet–to-core interface [5,6,7]. The performance and reliability of such tri-layer composites are eventually defined by the quality of the bonded interface [8,9]. When debonding arises between the skin and core material layers, sandwich panels significantly lose their load bearing capacity [10,11]. The debonding may cause eventual failure of the sandwich panels [20,21,22] under dynamic loads
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