• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.339-361
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• 2012

Large amplitude free vibration and thermal post-buckling of shear flexible Functionally Graded Material (FGM) beams is studied using finite element formulation based on first order Timoshenko beam theory. Classical boundary conditions are considered. The ends are assumed to be axially immovable. The von-Karman type strain-displacement relations are used to account for geometric non-linearity. For all the boundary conditions considered, hardening type of non-linearity is observed. For large amplitude vibration of FGM beams, a comprehensive study has been carried out with various lengths to height ratios, maximum lateral amplitude to radius of gyration ratios, volume fraction exponents and boundary conditions. It is observed that, for FGM beams, the non-linear frequencies are dependent on the sign of the vibration amplitudes. For thermal post-buckling of FGM beams, the effect of shear flexibility on the structural response is discussed in detail for different volume fraction exponents, length to height ratios and boundary conditions. The effect of shear flexibility is observed to be predominant for clamped beam as compared to simply supported beam.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.725-739
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• 2007

In recent years there are many plate bending elements that emerged for solving both thin and thick plates. The main features of these elements are that they are based on mix formulation interpolation with discrete collocation constraints. These elements passed the patch test for mix formulation and performed well for linear analysis of thin and thick plates. In this paper a member of this family of elements, namely, the Discrete Reissner-Mindlin (DRM) is further extended and developed to analyze both thin and thick plates with geometric nonlinearity. The Von K$\acute{a}$rm$\acute{a}$n's large displacement plate theory based on Lagrangian coordinate system is used. The Hu-Washizu variational principle is employed to formulate the stiffness matrix of the geometrically Nonlinear Discrete Reissner-Mindlin (NDRM). An iterative-incremental procedure is implemented to solve the nonlinear equations. The element is then tested for plates with simply supported and clamped edges under uniformly distributed transverse loads. The results obtained using the geometrically NDRM element is then compared with the results of available analytical solutions. It has been observed that the NDRM results agreed well with the analytical solutions results. Therefore, it is concluded that the NDRM element is both reliable and efficient in analyzing thin and thick plates with geometric non-linearity.