RMVT- and PVD-based finite cylindrical layer methods for the three-dimensional buckling analysis of multilayered FGM cylinders under axial compression

The unified formulations of finite cylindrical layer methods (FCLMs) based on the Reissner mixed variational theorem (RMVT) and the principle of virtual displacements (PVD) are developed for the three-dimensional (3D) linear buckling analysis of simply-supported, multilayered functionally graded material (FGM) circular hollow cylinders and laminated composite ones under axial compression. The material properties of the FGM layer are assumed to obey the power-law distributions of the volume fraction of the constituents through the thickness coordinate. In these formulations, the cylinder is divided into a number of finite cylindrical layers, in which the trigonometric functions and Lagrange polynomials are used to interpolate the in- and out-of-surface variations of the primary variables of each individual layer, respectively, as well as the related order of each primary variable can be freely chosen, such as the layerwise linear, quadratic or cubic function distribution through the thickness coordinate. The accuracy and convergence of the RMVT- and PVD-based FCLMs developed in this article are assessed by comparing their solutions with the exact 3D solutions available in the literature.