Mechanical stability of functionally graded stiffened cylindrical shells

This paper is concerned with the elastic buckling of stiffened cylindrical shells by rings and stringers made of functionally graded materials subjected to axial compression loading. The shell properties are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness direction. Fundamental relations, the equilibrium and stability equations are derived using the Sander’s assumption. Resulting equations are employed to obtain the closed-form solution for the critical buckling loads. The results show that the inhomogeneity parameter and geometry of shell significantly affect the critical buckling loads. The analytical results are compared and validated using the finite element method.     

Analysis of Functionally Graded Piezoelectric Cylinders in a Hygrothermal Environment

This paper presents an analytical solution for the interaction of electric potentials, electric displacement, elastic deformations, and describes hygrothermal effect responses in hollow and solid cylinders, subjected to mechanical load and electric potential. Exact solutions for displacement, stresses and electric potentials in functionally graded piezoelectric material are determined using the infinitesimal theory. The material properties coefficients of the present cylinder are assumed to be graded in the radial direction by a power law distribution. Numerical examples display the significant of influence of material inhomogeneity. It is interesting to note that selecting a specific value of inhomogeneity parameter can optimize the piezoelectric hollow and solid cylinders responses, which will be of particular importance in modern engineering designs.     

A New Higher Order Shear Deformation Model for Static Behavior of Functionally Graded Plates

In this paper, a new displacement based high-order shear deformation theory is introduced for the static response of functionally graded plate. Unlike any other theory, the number of unknown functions involved is only four, as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The theory presented is variationally consistent, has strong similarity with classical plate theory in many aspects, does not require shear correction factor, and gives rise to transverse shear stress variation such that the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness satisfying shear stress free surface conditions. The mechanical properties of the plate are assumed to vary continuously in the thickness direction by a simple power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Numerical illustrations concerned flexural behavior of FG plates with Metal-Ceramic composition. Parametric studies are performed for varying ceramic volume fraction, volume fraction profiles, aspect ratios and length to thickness ratios. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present results with those of the classical, the first-order and the other higher-order theories. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the static behavior of functionally graded plates.     

A frictional receding contact plane problem between a functionally graded layer and a homogeneous substrate

This paper investigates the plane problem of a frictional receding contact formed between an elastic functionally graded layer and a homogeneous half space, when they are pressed against each other. The graded layer is assumed to be an isotropic nonhomogeneous medium with an exponentially varying shear modulus and a constant Poisson’s ratio. A segment of the top surface of the graded layer is subject to both normal and tangential traction while rest of the surface is devoid of traction. The entire contact zone thus formed between the layer and the homogeneous medium can transmit both normal and tangential traction. It is assumed that the contact region is under sliding contact conditions with the Coulomb’s law used to relate the tangential traction to the normal component. Employing Fourier integral transforms and applying the necessary boundary conditions, the plane elasticity equations are reduced to a singular integral equation in which the unknowns are the contact pressure and the receding contact lengths. Ensuring mechanical equilibrium is an indispensable requirement warranted by the physics of the problem and therefore the global force and moment equilibrium conditions for the layer are supplemented to solve the problem. The Gauss–Chebyshev quadrature-collocation method is adopted to convert the singular integral equation to a set of overdetermined algebraic equations. This system is solved using a least squares method coupled with a novel iterative procedure to ensure that the force and moment equilibrium conditions are satisfied simultaneously. The main objective of this paper is to study the effect of friction coefficient and nonhomogeneity factor on the contact pressure distribution and the size of the contact region.     

Mechanical buckling of a functionally graded cylindrical shell with axial and circumferential stiffeners using the third-order shear deformation theory

This paper deals with an analytical approach of the buckling behavior of a functionally graded circular cylindrical shell under axial pressure with external axial and circumferential stiffeners. The shell properties are assumed to vary continuously through the thickness direction. Fundamental relations and equilibrium and stability equations are derived using the third-order shear deformation theory. The resulting equations are employed to obtain the closed-form solution for the critical buckling loads. A simply supported boundary condition is considered for both edges of the shell. The comparison of the results of this study with those in the literature validates the present analysis. The effects of material composition (volume fraction exponent), of the number of stiffeners and of shell geometry parameters on the characteristics of the critical buckling load are described. The analytical results are compared and validated using the finite-element method. The results show that the inhomogeneity parameter, the geometry of the shell and the number of stiffeners considerably affect the critical buckling loads.     

Elasticity solutions for functionally graded rectangular plates with two opposite edges simply supported

England (2006) [13] proposed a novel method to study the bending of isotropic functionally graded plates subject to transverse biharmonic loads. His method is extended here to functionally graded plates with materials characterizing transverse isotropy. Using the complex variable method, the governing equations of three plate displacements appearing in the expansions of displacement field are formulated based on the three-dimensional theory of elasticity for a transverse load satisfying the biharmonic equation. The solution may be expressed in terms of four analytic functions of the complex variable, in which the unknown constants can be determined from the boundary conditions similar to that in the classical plate theory. The elasticity solutions of an FGM rectangular plate with opposite edges simply supported under 12 types of biharmonic polynomial loads are derived as appropriate sums of the general and particular solutions of the governing equations. A comparison of the present results for a uniform load with existing solutions is made and good agreement is observed. The influence of boundary conditions, material inhomogeneity, and thickness to length ratio on the plate deflection and stresses for the load x²yq are studied numerically.     

A solution method for the sub-surface stresses and local deflection of a semi-infinite inhomogeneous elastic medium

This paper proposes analytical Fourier series solutions (based on the Airy stress function) for the local deflection and subsurface stress field of a two-dimensional graded elastic solid loaded by a pre-determined pressure distribution. We present a selection of numerical results for a simple sinusoidal pressure which indicates how the inhomogeneity of the solid affects its behaviour. The model is then adapted and used to derive an iterative algorithm which may be used to solve for the contact half width and pressure induced from contact with a rigid punch. Finally, the contact of a rigid cylindrical stamp is studied and our results compared to those predicted by Hertzian theory. It is found that solids with a slowly varying elastic modulus produce results in good agreement with those of Hertz whilst more quickly varying elastic moduli which correspond to solids that become stiffer below the surface give rise to larger maximum pressures and stresses whilst the contact pressure is found to act over a smaller area.     

Surface instability of an elastic half space with material properties varying with depth

If a body with a stiffer surface layer is loaded in compression, a surface wrinkling instability may be developed. A bifurcation analysis is presented for determining the critical load for the onset of wrinkling and the associated wavelength for materials in which the elastic modulus is an arbitrary function of depth. The analysis leads to an eigenvalue problem involving a pair of linear ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients which are discretized and solved using the finite element method.The method is validated by comparison with classical results for a uniform layer on a dissimilar substrate. Results are then given for materials with exponential and error-function gradation of elastic modulus and for a homogeneous body with thermoelastically induced compressive stresses.     

Periodic cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric layer bonded to a piezoelectric half-plane

Studied is the problem of a periodic array of cracks in a functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric material. The properties of the functionally graded piezoelectric strip, such as elastic modulus, piezoelectric constant and dielectric constant, are assumed in exponential forms and vary along the crack direction. The crack surface condition is assumed to be electrically impermeable or permeable. Integral transform and dislocation density functions are employed to reduce the problem to the solution of a system of singular integral equations. The effects of the periodic crack spacing, material constants and the geometry parameters on the stress intensity factor, the energy release ratio and the energy density factor are studied.     

Effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of interface on the fracture behavior of a functionally graded coating with an inclined crack

The mechanical model was established for the anti-plane fracture problem of a functionally graded coating–substrate system with a coating crack inclined to the weak/micro-discontinuous interface. The Cauchy singular integral equation for the crack was derived using Fourier integral transform, and the Lobatto–Chebyshev collocation method put up by Erdogan and Gupta was used to get its numerical solution. Finally, the effects of the weak/micro-discontinuity of the interface on SIFs were analyzed, the “affected regions” corresponding to the two crack tips have been obtained and their engineering significance was discussed. It was indicated that, for the crack tip in the corresponding “affected region”, to reduce the weak-discontinuity of the interface and to make the interface micro-discontinuous are the two effective ways to reduce the SIF, and the latter way always has more remarkable SIF-reduction effect. For the crack tip outside the “affected region”, its SIF is mainly influenced by material stiffness, and to prevent such a tip from growing toward the interface “softer coating and stiffer substrate” is a more advantageous combination than “stiffer coating and softer substrate”.