An analytical solution for buckling of moderately thick functionally graded sector and annular sector plates

In this article, an analytical solution for buckling of moderately thick functionally graded (FG) sectorial plates is presented. It is assumed that the material properties of the FG plate vary through the thickness of the plate as a power function. The stability equations are derived according to the Mindlin plate theory. By introducing four new functions, the stability equations are decoupled. The decoupled stability equations are solved analytically for both sector and annular sector plates with two simply supported radial edges. Satisfying the edges conditions along the circular edges of the plate, an eigenvalue problem for finding the critical buckling load is obtained. Solving the eigenvalue problem, the numerical results for the critical buckling load and mode shapes are obtained for both sector and annular sector plates. Finally, the effects of boundary conditions, volume fraction, inner to outer radius ratio (annularity) and plate thickness are studied. The results for critical buckling load of functionally graded sectorial plates are reported for the first time and can be used as benchmark.