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.