Buckling and large deflection behaviors of radially functionally graded ring-stiffened circular plates with various boundary conditions

The buckling and large deflection behaviors of axis-symmetric radially functionally graded (RFG) ring-stiffened circular plates are investigated by the dynamic relaxation (DR) method combined with the finite difference discretization technique. The material properties of the constituent components of the RFG plate are assumed to vary continuously according to the Mori-Tanaka distribution along the radial direction. The nonlinear governing equations are obtained in the incremental form based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT) and the von Karman relations for large deflection. In the buckling analysis, an external in-plane load is applied to the plate incrementally so that, in each load-step, the incremental form of the governing equations can be solved by a numerical code prepared based on the DR method. After converging the DR code in the first increment, the latter load-step is added to the previous one, and the program is repeated again. The critical buckling load is determined from the compressive load-displacement curve obtained by solving the incremental form of the governing equa- tions. Based on the present incremental form of formulation, a bending analysis can also be conducted if the whole load is applied simultaneously. Finally, a detailed parametric study is carried out to investigate the influences of various boundary conditions, grading indices, thickness-to-radius ratios, stiffener’s positions and depths on the critical buckling load, and displacements and stresses resulted from the bending analysis. It is observed that the effect of the stiffener on the results is much greater in the functionally graded plate with higher material grading indices. The results also reveal that, by increasing the depth of the stiffer, the values of ascending the critical buckling load are approximately identical for both simply supported and clamped boundary conditions.     

Nonlinear analysis of a thin circular functionally graded plate and large deflection effects on the forces and moments

The dynamic von Karman equations are used for nonlinear analysis of a thin circular plate made of a functionally graded material. The thickness of the plate is constant and the properties of the functionally graded material depend on temperature and vary throughout the thickness. It is assumed that the plate oscillates with large amplitudes. The forces and moments in the plate are determined in solving the equations for harmonic vibrations. Relevant results are obtained in the case of stead-state free vibrations. These results indicate that the volume fraction has a strong effect on the forces, moments, and material properties Published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 134–144, June 2008. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Large deflection problem of a clamped elliptical plate subjected to uniform pressure

In this paper, the perturbation solution of large deflection problem of clamped elliptical plate subjected to uniform pressure is given on the basis of the perturbation solution of large deflection problem of similar clamped circular plate (1948), (1954). The analytical solution of this problem was obtained in 1957. However, due to social difficulties, these results have never been published. Nash and Cooley (1959) published a brief note of similar nature, in which only the case λ=a/b=2 is given. In this paper, the analytical solution is given in detail up to the 2nd approximation. The numerical solutions are given for various Poisson ratios v=0.25, 0.30, 0.35 and for various eccentricities λ=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, which can be used in the calculation of engineering designs.     

Stochastic thermoelastic problem of a functionally graded plate under random temperature load

This study attempts to derive the statistics of temperature and thermal stress in functionally graded material (FGM) plates exposed to random external temperatures. The thermomechanical properties of the FGM plates are assumed to vary arbitrarily only in the plate thickness direction. The external temperatures are expressed as random functions with respect to time. The transient temperature field in the FGM plate is determined by solving a nonhomogeneous heat conduction problem for a multilayered plate with linear nonhomogeneous thermal conductivity and different homogeneous heat capacity in each layer. The autocorrelations and power spectrum densities (PSDs) of temperature and thermal stress are derived analytically. These statistics for FGM plates composed of partially stabilised zirconia (PSZ) and austenitic stainless steel (SUS304) are computed under the condition that the fluctuation in the external temperature can be considered as white noise or a stationary Markov process.     

An inverse boundary value problem for Maxwell's equations

We consider steady, two-dimensional motions of an incompressible, Newtonian fluid flowing under gravity down an inclined channel. If the bottom of the channel is flat, the flow is the classical Poiseuille-Nusselt flow and the free surface is then a plane parallel to the bottom. Motivated by the recent experimental and numerical studies of Pritchard, Scott & Tavener, we look at bottom configurations which possess some localized, non-uniform structure. We present an existence theory for steady, highly viscous flow over such configurations. An important consequence of our theory is that the steady flows whose existence is established decay exponentially rapidly to the unperturbed Poiseuille-Nusselt flow away from the local variation in the channel bottom profile.     

Dielectric crack problem for a magnetoelectroelastic strip with functionally graded properties

The paper presents a fracture analysis for an electromagnetically dielectric crack in a functionally graded magnetoelectroelastic strip. It is considered that the material properties are varying exponentially along the width direction. Under the assumption of the in-plane magneto-electro-mechanical loadings, the dielectric crack is simulated by using the semi-permeable crack-face boundary conditions. The Fourier transform technique is applied to solve the boundary-value problem and four coupling singular integral equations are determined. A nonlinear system of algebraic equations is further derived and solved numerically to determine the electromagnetic field inside the crack. Then the field intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, and magnetic induction are given. Through the numerical computations, the effects of the material non-homogeneity and the permeability of crack interior on the electric displacement and the magnetic induction at the crack faces are studied. The variations of the intensity factors of stress, electric displacement, and magnetic induction versus the geometry of the crack, the strip width, and the material non-homogeneity are presented in graphics respectively.     

Aeroelastic tailoring of a plate wing with functionally graded materials

A functionally graded material (FGM) provides a spatial blend of material properties throughout a structure. This paper studies the efficacy of FGM for the aeroelastic tailoring of a metallic cantilever plate-like wing, wherein a genetic algorithm provides Pareto trade-off curves between static and dynamic aeroelastic metrics. A key comparison is between the effectiveness of material grading, geometric grading (i.e. plate thickness variations), and using both simultaneously. The introduction of material grading does, in some cases, improve the aeroelastic performance. This improvement, and the physical mechanism upon which it is based, depends on numerous factors: the two sets of metallic material parameters used for grading; the sweep of the plate; the aspect ratio of the plate; and whether the material is graded continuously or discretely.     

Exact solution for circular sandwich plate with large deflection

This paper gives the exact solution of large deflection of circular sandwich plate under the action of uniform lateral load by the method of power series. Making use of this solution, we can judge the accuracy of Liu Ren-huai’s⁽⁴⁾ analytic solution obtained by means of the modified iteration method. This indicates that the previous solution has very satisfactory accuracy.     

Impact response of a functionally graded piezoelectric plate with a vertical crack

The dynamic fracture problem for a functionally graded piezoelectric plate containing a crack perpendicular to the free boundaries is considered in this study. It is assumed that the electroelastic properties of the medium vary continuously in the thickness direction. Integral transform techniques and dislocation density function are employed to reduce the problem to the solution of a singular integral equation. Mode I dynamic energy density factors are presented for an internal crack as well as an edge crack for various values of dimensionless parameters representing the size and location of the crack and the material nonhomogeneity.     

Reissner-Sagoci problem for a homogeneous coating on a functionally graded half-space

This paper is concerned with the axisymmetric elastostatic problem related to the rotation of a rigid punch which is bonded to the surface of a nonhomogeneous half-space. The half-space is composed of an isotropic homogeneous coating in the form of layer, which is attached to the functionally graded half-space. The shear modulus of the FGM is assumed to vary in the direction of axis Oz normal to the boundary as μ₁(z) = μ₀(1 + αz)^β, where μ₀, α, β are positive constants. The punch undergoes rotation due to the action of the internal loads. By using Hankel's integral transforms, the mixed boundary value problem is reduced to dual integral equations, and next, to a Fredholm's integral equation of the second kind, which is solved numerically for the case of β = 2. The final results show the effect of non-homogeneity on the shear stresses and an unknown moment of punch rotation.     

Effects of SH waves in a functionally graded plate

A computational method is presented to investigate SH waves in functionally graded material (FGM) plates. The FGM plate is first divided into quadratic layer elements (QLEs), in which the material properties are assumed as a quadratic function in the thickness direction. A general solution for the equation of motion governing the QLE has been derived. The general solution is then used together with the boundary and continuity conditions to obtain the displacement and stress in the wave number domain for an arbitrary FGM plate. The displacements and stresses in the frequency domain and time domain are obtained using inverse Fourier integration. Furthermore, a simple integral technique is also proposed for evaluating modified Bessel functions with complex valued order. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate this numerical technique for SH waves propagating in FGM plates.     

Nonlinear dynamic response of a functionally graded plate with a through-width surface crack

A nonlinear vibration analysis of a simply supported functionally graded rectangular plate with a through-width surface crack is presented in this paper. The plate is subjected to a transverse excitation force. Material properties are graded in the thickness direction according to exponential distributions. The cracked plate is treated as an assembly of two sub-plates connected by a rotational spring at the cracked section whose stiffness is calculated through stress intensity factor. Based on Reddy’s third-order shear deformation plate theory, the nonlinear governing equations of motion for the FGM plate are derived by using the Hamilton’s principle. The deflection of each sub-plate is assumed to be a combination of the first two mode shape functions with unknown constants to be determined from boundary and compatibility conditions. The Galerkin’s method is then utilized to convert the governing equations to a two-degree-of-freedom nonlinear system including quadratic and cubic nonlinear terms under the external excitation, which is numerically solved to obtain the nonlinear responses of cracked FGM rectangular plates. The influences of material property gradient, crack depth, crack location and plate thickness ratio on the vibration frequencies and transient response of the surface-racked FGM plate are discussed in detail through a parametric study.     

Dynamic stress analysis of a functionally graded material plate with a circular hole

This paper is to study the two-dimensional dynamic stress of a functionally graded material (FGM) plate with a circular hole under plane compressional waves at infinity. With using the method of piece-wise homogeneous layers, the dynamic stress distribution of the FGM plate having radial arbitrary material parameters is derived based on the complex variable method. As examples, numerical results are presented for the FGM plate having given radial shear modulus, density and Poisson’s ratio. It is found that the dynamic stress around the circular hole in the FGM plate can be effectively reduced by choosing the proper change ways of the radial material parameters for different frequency incident wave.     

Crack propagation in a functionally graded plate under thermal shock

Summary Thermal cracking in a ceramic/metal functionally graded plate is discussed. When a functionally graded plate is cooled from high temperature, curved or straight crack paths are experimentally observed on the ceramic surface. One of the reasons that make the crack paths to differ are the thermal or mechanical conditions. In order to clarify the influence of these conditions on the crack path, the crack propagation is simulated using finite element method. Received 29 September 1998; accepted for publication 2 August 1999     

Heat flow in functionally graded pipes with isothermal boundary conditions

The steady state two-dimensional temperature field within a functionally graded pipe having isothermal inner and outer surfaces is calculated. The analysis is based upon the theory of complex variables. An expression, which depends upon the spatial variation of the conductivity, is suggested for the equivalent homogeneous thermal conductivity.     

The large deflection problem of circular thin plate with variable thickness under uniformly distributed loads

In this paper, to begin with, the large deflection equation of variable thickness circular plates is given. By using small parameter method and revised iteration jointly a cubic approximate solution is obtained. A characteristic is also given for comparison with linear theory.     

Higher-order crack tip fields for functionally graded material plate with transverse shear deformation

The crack tip fields are investigated for a cracked functionally graded material (FGM) plate by Reissner’s linear plate theory with the consideration of the transverse shear deformation generated by bending. The elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary continuously through the coordinate y, according to a linear law and a constant, respectively. The governing equations, i.e., the 6th-order partial differential equations with variable coefficients, are derived in the polar coordinate system based on Reissner’s plate theory. Furthermore, the generalized displacements are treated in a separation-of-variable form, and the higher-order crack tip fields of the cracked FGM plate are obtained by the eigen-expansion method. It is found that the analytic solutions degenerate to the corresponding fields of the isotropic homogeneous plate with Reissner’s effect when the in-homogeneity parameter approaches zero.     

Dynamic internal crack problem of a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic strip

In this paper the dynamic anti-plane problem for a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic strip containing an internal crack perpendicular to the boundary is investigated. The crack is assumed to be either magneto-electrically impermeable or permeable. Integral transforms and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to Cauchy singular integral equations. Numerical results show the effects of loading combination parameter, material gradient parameter and crack configuration on the dynamic response. With the magneto-electrically permeable assumption, both the magnetical and electrical impacts have no contribution to the crack tip field singularity. However, with the impermeable assumption, both the applied magnetical loads and electrical loads play a dominant role in the dynamic fracture behavior of crack tips. And for the two kinds of crack surface conditions, increasing the graded index can all retard the crack extension.     

Dynamic fracture behaviors of cracks in a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic plate

In this paper the dynamic anti-plane problem for a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic plate containing an internal or an edge crack parallel to the graded direction is investigated. The crack is assumed to be magneto-electrically impermeable. Integral transforms and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to Cauchy singular integral equations. Field intensity factors and energy release rate are derived, analyzed and partially calculated numerically. The effects of material graded index, loading combination parameter (including size and direction) and geometry criterion of the plate on the dynamic energy release rate are shown graphically. Numerical results indicate that increasing the graded index can all retard the crack extension, and that both the applied magnetic field loadings and electric field loadings play a dominant role in the dynamic fracture behaviors of crack tips.