Stochastic analysis of a thermoelastic problem in functionally graded plates with uncertain material properties

The statistics (i.e., mean and variance) of temperature and thermal stress are analytically obtained in functionally graded material (FGM) plates with uncertainties in the thermal conductivity and coefficient of linear thermal expansion. These FGM plates are assumed to have arbitrary nonhomogeneous thermal and mechanical properties through the entire thickness of plate and are subjected to deterministic convective heating. The stochastic temperature and thermal stress fields are analysed by assuming the FGM plate is multilayered with distinct, random thermal conductivity and coefficient of linear thermal expansion in each layer. Vodicka’s method, which is a type of integral transform method, and a perturbation method are employed to obtain the analytical solutions for the statistics. The autocorrelation coefficients of each random property and cross-correlation coefficients between different random properties are expressed in exponential function forms as a non-homogeneous Markov random field of discrete space. Numerical calculations are performed for FGM plates composed of partially stabilised zirconia (PSZ) and austenitic stainless steel (SUS304), which have the largest dispersion of the random properties at the place where the volume fractions of the two constituent materials are both 0.5. The effects of the spatial change in material composition, thermal boundary condition and correlation coefficients on the standard deviations of the temperature and thermal stress are discussed.