• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.91-112
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• 2016

In this paper, post-buckling behavior of sandwich plates with functionally graded (FG) face sheets under uniform temperature rise loading is examined based on both sinusoidal shear deformation theory and stress function. It is supposed that the sandwich plate is in contact with an elastic foundation during deformation, which acts in both compression and tension. Thermo-elastic non-homogeneous properties of FG layers change smoothly by the variation of power law within the thickness, and temperature dependency of material constituents is considered in the formulation. In the present development, Von Karman nonlinearity and initial geometrical imperfection of sandwich plate are also taken into account. By employing Galerkin method, analytical solutions of thermal buckling and post-buckling equilibrium paths for simply supported plates are determined. Numerical examples presented in the present study discuss the effects of gradient index, sandwich plate geometry, geometrical imperfection, temperature dependency, and the elastic foundation parameters.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.155-177
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• 2019

In this paper, a new displacement based high-order shear deformation theory is introduced for the static response of functionally graded sandwich plate with new definition of porosity distribution taking into account composition and the scheme of the sandwich plate. Unlike any other theory, the number of unknown functions involved is only four, as against five in case of other shear deformation theories. The theory presented is variationally consistent, has strong similarity with classical plate theory in many aspects, does not require shear correction factor, and gives rise to transverse shear stress variation such that the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness satisfying shear stress free surface conditions. Material properties of FGM layers are assumed to vary continuously across the plate thickness according to either power-law or sigmoid function in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The face layers are considered to be FG across each face thickness while the core is made of a ceramic homogeneous layer. Governing equations are derived from the principle of virtual displacements. The closed-form solution of a simply supported rectangular plate subjected to sinusoidal loading has been obtained by using the Navier method. Numerical results are presented to show the effect of the material distribution, the sandwich plate geometry and the porosity on the deflections and stresses of FG sandwich plates. The validity of the present theory is investigated by comparing some of the present results with other published results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1001-1014
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• 2015

Bending analysis of functionally graded (FG) nano-plates is investigated in the present work based on a new sinusoidal shear deformation theory. The theory accounts for sinusoidal distribution of transverse shear stress, and satisfies the free transverse shear stress conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate without using shear correction factor. The material properties of nano-plate are assumed to vary according to power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituents. The size effects are considered based on Eringen's nonlocal theory. Governing equations are derived using energy method and Hamilton's principle. The closed-form solutions of simply supported nano-plates are obtained and the results are compared with those of first-order shear deformation theory and higher-order shear deformation theory. The effects of different parameters such as nano-plate length and thickness, elastic foundation, orientation of foundation orthtotropy direction and nonlocal parameters are shown in dimensionless displacement of system. It can be found that with increasing nonlocal parameter, the dimensionless displacement of nano-plate increases.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.385-410
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• 2017

This work presents a simple and refined nth-order shear deformation theory for mechanical and thermal buckling behaviors of functionally graded (FG) plates resting on elastic foundation. The proposed refined nth-order shear deformation theory has a new displacement field which includes undetermined integral terms and contains only four unknowns. Governing equations are obtained from the principle of minimum total potential energy. A Navier type analytical solution methodology is also presented for simply supported FG plates resting on elastic foundation which predicts accurate solution. The accuracy of the present model is checked by comparing the computed results with those obtained by classical plate theory (CPT), first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). Moreover, results demonstrate that the proposed theory can achieve the same accuracy of the existing HSDTs which have more number of variables.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.191-206
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• 2023

The present research investigates how micromechanical models affect the behavior of Functionally Graded (FG) plates under different boundary conditions. The study employs diverse micromechanical models to assess the effective material properties of a two-phase particle composite featuring a volume fraction of particles that continuously varies throughout the thickness of the plate. Specifically, the research examines the vibrational response of the plate on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation, considering different boundary conditions. To achieve this, the governing differential equations and boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton's principle, which is based on a four-variable shear deformation refined plate theory. Additionally, the Galerkin method is utilized to compute the plate's natural frequencies. The study explores how the plate's natural frequencies are influenced by various micromechanical models, such as Voigt, Reuss, Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, and Tamura, as well as factors such as boundary conditions, elastic foundation parameters, length-to-thickness ratio, and aspect ratio. The research results can provide valuable insights for future analyses of FG plates with different boundaries, utilizing different micromechanical models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.431-440
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• 2023

The functionally graded (FG) porous plates are usually characterized by the non-symmetric elastic modulus distribution through the thickness so that the plate neutral surface does not coincide with the mid-surface. Nevertheless, the conventional analysis models were mostly based on the plate mid-surface so that the accuracy of resulting numerical results is questionable. In this context, this paper presents the neutral surface-based static and free vibration analysis of FG porous plates and investigates the differences between the mid- and neutral surface-based analysis models. The neutral surface-based numerical method is formulated using the (3,3,2) hierarchical model and approximated by the last introduced natural element method (NEM). The volume fractions of metal and ceramic are expressed by the power-law function and the cosine-type porosity distributions are considered. The proposed numerical method is demonstrated through the benchmark experiment, and the differences between two analysis models are parametrically investigated with respect to the thickness-wise material and porosity distributions. It is found from the numerical results that the difference cannot be negligible when the material and porosity distributions are remarkably biased in the thickness direction.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.213-226
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• 2020

The present study covenants with the static and free vibration behavior of nanocomposite sandwich plates reinforced by carbon nanotubes resting on Pasternak elastic foundation. Uniformly distributed (UD-CNT) and functionally graded (FG-CNT) distributions of aligned carbon nanotube are considered for two types of sandwich plates such as, the face sheet reinforced and homogeneous core and the homogeneous face sheet and reinforced core. Based on the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the Hamilton's principle is employed to derive the mathematical models. The obtained solutions are numerically validated by comparison with some available cases in the literature. The elastic foundation model is assumed as one parameter Winkler - Pasternak foundation. A parametric study is conducted to study the effects of aspect ratios, foundation parameters, carbon nanotube volume fraction, types of reinforcement, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio and types of loads acting on the bending and free vibration analyses. It is explicitly shown that the (FG-CNT) face sheet reinforced sandwich plate has a high resistance against deflections compared to other types of reinforcement. It is also revealed that the reduction in the dimensionless natural frequency is most pronounced in core reinforced sandwich plate.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.457-469
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• 2019

In this paper, a numerical solution is presented for supersonic flutter analysis of cantilever non-symmetric functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates. The plate is considered to be composed of two different functionally graded face sheets and an isotropic homogeneous core made of ceramic. Based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and linear piston theory, the set of governing equations and boundary conditions are derived. Dimensionless form of the governing equations and boundary conditions are derived and solved numerically using generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) and critical velocity and flutter frequencies are calculated. For various values of the yaw angle, effect of different parameters like aspect ratio, thickness of the plate, power law indices and thickness of the core on the flutter boundaries are investigated. Numerical examples show that wings and tail fins with larger length and shorter width are more stable in supersonic flights. It is concluded for FG sandwich plates made of Al-Al₂O₃ that increase in volume fraction of ceramic (Al₂O₃) increases aeroelastic stability of the plate. Presented study confirms that improvement of aeroelastic behavior and weight of wings and tail fins of aircrafts are not consistent items. It is shown that value of the critical yaw angle depends on aspect ratio of the plate and other parameters including thickness and variation of properties have no considerable effect on it. Results of this paper can be used in design and analysis of wing and tail fin of supersonic airplanes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.779-789
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• 2022

This work presents a non-linear cylindrical bending analysis of functionally graded plate reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in thermal environment using a simple integral higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This theory does not require shear correction factors and the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically through the thickness. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTCRs) are considered to be graded in the thickness direction, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The non-linear strain-displacement relations in the Von Karman sense are used to study the effect of geometric non-linearity and the solution is obtained by minimization of the total potential energy. The numerical illustrations concern the nonlinear bending response of FG-CNTRC plates under different sets of thermal environmental conditions, from which results for uniformly distributed CNTRC plates are obtained as benchmarks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.86 no.4
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• pp.443-459
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• 2023

This study investigates the theoretical thermal buckling analyses of thick porous rectangular functionally graded (FG) plates with different geometrical boundary conditions resting on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation using a new higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This new theory has only four unknowns and involves indeterminate integral variables in which no shear correction factor is required. The variation of material properties across the plate's thickness is considered continuous and varied following a simple power law as a function of volume fractions of the constituents. The effect of porosity with two different types of distribution is also included. The current formulation considers the Von Karman nonlinearity, and the stability equations are developed using the virtual works principle. The thermal gradients are involved and assumed to change across the FG plate's thickness according to nonlinear, linear, and uniform distributions. The accuracy of the newly proposed theory has been validated by comparing the present results with the results obtained from the previously published theories. The effects of porosity, boundary conditions, foundation parameters, power index, plate aspect ratio, and side-to-thickness ratio on the critical buckling temperature are studied and discussed in detail.