• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.5
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• pp.517-530
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• 2024

This paper presents a new four-unknown equivalent single layer (ESL) refined plate theory for the buckling analysis of functionally graded (FG) rectangular plates with all simply supported edges and subjected to in-plane mechanical loading conditions. The present model accounts for a parabolic variation of transverse shear stress over the thickness, and accommodates correctly the zero shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. The material properties are supposed to vary smoothly in the thickness direction through the rules of mixture named power-law gradation. The governing equilibrium equations are formulated based on the total potential energy principle and solved for simply supported boundary conditions by implementing the Navier's method. A numerical result on elastic buckling using the current theory was computed and compared with those published in the literature to examine the accuracy of the proposed analytical solution. The effects of changing power-law exponent, aspect ratio, thickness ratio and modulus ratio on the critical buckling load of FG plates under different in-plane loading conditions are investigated in detail. Moreover, it was found that the geometric parameters and power-law exponent play significant influences on the buckling behavior of the FG plates.