• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.755-786
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• 2016

The hygro-thermo-mechanical bending behavior of sigmoid functionally graded material (S-FGM) plate resting on variable two-parameter elastic foundations is discussed using a four-variable refined plate theory. The material characteristics are distributed within the thickness direction according to the two power law variation in terms of volume fractions of the constituents of the material. By employing a four variable refined plate model, both a trigonometric distribution of the transverse shear strains within the thickness and the zero traction boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate are respected without utilizing shear correction factors. The number of independent variables of the current formulation is four, as against five in other shear deformation models. The governing equations are deduced based on the four-variable refined plate theory incorporating the external load and hygro-thermal influences. The results of this work are compared with those of other shear deformation models. Various numerical examples introducing the influence of power-law index, plate aspect ratio, temperature difference, elastic foundation parameters, and side-to-thickness ratio on the static behavior of S-FGM plates are investigated.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1287-1306
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• 2016

The current research presents a buckling analysis of isotropic and orthotropic plates by proposing a new four variable refined plate theory. Contrary to the existing higher order shear deformation theories (HSDT) and the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the proposed model uses a new displacement field which incorporates undetermined integral terms and involves only four variables. The governing equations for buckling analysis are deduced by utilizing the principle of virtual works. The analytical solution of a simply supported rectangular plate under the axial loading has been determined via the Navier method. Numerical investigations are performed by using the proposed model and the obtained results are compared with CPT solutions, FSDT solutions, and the existing exact solutions in the literature. It can be concluded that the developed four variable refined plate theory, which does not use shear correction coefficient, is not only simple but also comparable to the FSDT.

• 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.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.601-614
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• 2017

In this work, free vibration analysis of size-dependent functionally graded (FG) nanoplates resting on two-parameter elastic foundation is investigated based on a novel nonlocal refined trigonometric shear deformation theory for the first time. This theory includes undetermined integral variables and contains only four unknowns, with is even less than the conventional first shear deformation theory (FSDT). Mori-Tanaka model is employed to describe gradually distribution of material properties along the plate thickness. Size-dependency of nanosize FG plate is captured via the nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen. By implementing Hamilton's principle the equations of motion are obtained for a refined four-variable shear deformation plate theory and then solved analytically. To show the accuracy of the present theory, our research results in specific cases are compared with available results in the literature and a good agreement will be demonstrated. Finally, the influence of various parameters such as nonlocal parameter, power law indexes, elastic foundation parameters, aspect ratio, and the thickness ratio on the non-dimensional frequency of rectangular FG nanoscale plates are presented and discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.707-727
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• 2016

In this paper, thermal vibration of a nonlocal functionally graded (FG) plates with arbitrary boundary conditions under linear and non-linear temperature fields is explored by developing a refined shear deformation plate theory with an inverse cotangential function in which shear deformation effect was involved without the need for shear correction factors. The material properties of FG nanoplate are considered to be temperature-dependent and graded in the thickness direction according to the Mori-Tanaka model. On the basis of non-classical higher order plate model and Eringen's nonlocal elasticity theory, the small size influence was captured. Numerical examples show the importance of non-uniform thermal loadings, boundary conditions, gradient index, nonlocal parameter and aspect and side-to-thickness ratio on vibrational responses of size-dependent FG nanoplates.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.91-107
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• 2012

In this research, mechanical buckling of hybrid functionally graded plates is considered using a new four variable refined plate theory. 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, 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. The plate properties are assumed to be varied through the thickness following a simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of material constituents. Governing equations are derived from the principle of minimum total potential energy. The closed-form solution of a simply supported rectangular plate subjected to in-plane loading has been obtained by using the Navier method. The effectiveness of the theories is brought out through illustrative examples.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.6
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• pp.661-675
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• 2018

In this paper, buckling analysis of hybrid functionally graded plates using a novel four variable refined plate theory is presented. In this theory the distribution of transverse shear deformation is parabolic across the thickness of the plate by satisfying the surface conditions. Therefore, it is unnecessary to use a shear correction factor. The variations of properties of the plate through the thickness are according to a symmetric sigmoid law (symmetric S-FGM). The principle virtual works is used herein to extract equilibrium equations. The analytical solution is determined using the Navier method for a simply supported rectangular plate subjected to axial forces. The precision of this theory is verified by comparing it with the various solutions available in the literature.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.257-270
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• 2019

The purpose of this work is to analyze the bending behavior of laminated composite plates using the refined fourvariable theory and the finite element method approach using an ANSYS 12 computational code. The analytical model is based on the multilayer plate theory of shear deformation of the nth-order proposed by Xiang et al 2011 using the theory principle developed by Shimpi and Patel 2006. Unlike other theories, the number of unknown functions in the present theory is only four, while five or more in the case of other theories of shear deformation. The formulation of the present theory is based on the principle of virtual works, it has a strong similarity with the classical theory of plates in many aspects, it does not require shear correction factor and gives a parabolic description of the shear stress across the thickness while filling the condition of zero shear stress on the free edges. The analysis is validated by comparing results with those in the literature.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2017

This paper uses the four-variable refined plate theory for the free vibration analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) rectangular plates. The plate properties are assumed to be varied through the thickness following a simple power law distribution in terms of volume fraction of material constituents. The theory presented is variationally consistent, 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. Equations of motion are derived from the Hamilton's principle. The closed-form solutions of functionally graded plates are obtained using Navier solution. Numerical results of the refined plate theory are presented to show the effect of the material distribution, the aspect and side-to-thickness ratio on the fundamental frequencies. It can be concluded that the proposed theory is accurate and simple in solving the free vibration behavior of functionally graded plates.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.473-495
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• 2016

This work presents a bending, buckling, and vibration analysis of functionally graded plates by employing a novel higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This theory has only four unknowns, which is even less than the first shear deformation theory (FSDT). A shear correction coefficient is, thus, not needed. Unlike the conventional HSDT, the present one has a new displacement field which introduces undetermined integral variables. Equations of motion are obtained by utilizing the Hamilton's principles and solved via Navier's procedure. The convergence and the validation of the proposed theoretical numerical model are performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the model.