Keywords: buckling analysis, thermal loading, finite strip method, functionally graded material, functionally graded strip, power law.

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are advanced high-performance, heat-resistant materials being able to withstand ultra-high temperatures and extremely large gradients present in spacecraft and nuclear plants. FGMs are microscopically inhomogeneous in which the mechanical properties vary smoothly and continuously from one surface to the other. This is achieved by gradually varying the volume fraction of the constituent materials. The special characteriastics of FGMs, which are usually made of metal and ceramic, make them preferable to conventional composite materials, which are subject to delamination, for engineering applications. These novel materials were first introduced by Koizumi [1] in 1984.

In the present paper, a finite strip method is applied to analyze the buckling behavior of simply supported rectangular functionally graded plates (FGPs) under thermal loadings such as uniform temperature rise, linear and nonlinear temperature change across the plate thickness. Derivations of equations are based on classical plate theory (CPT). The fundamental equations for rectangular plates of FGM are obtained by discretizing the plate into some finite strips. The solution is obtained by the minimization of the total potential energy as well as solving the eigenvalue problem. In addition, numerical results for a variety of functionally graded plates are presented and compared with the values of critical buckling temperature obtained by Javaheri [2]. Moreover, the effects of geometrical parameters and material properties on the FGPs' buckling temperature difference are determined and discussed. The figures also show that the results of the present study agree very well with the analytical results obtained by Javaheri [2]. The analysis is performed on a plate of thickness of 5mm.

Results show that the critical buckling temperature increases by increasing the plate aspect ratio B/A, while the same parameter decreases with the increase in the width to thickness ratio B/h and also with the increase in power law index n.

1

M. Koizumi, "FGM activities in Japan", Compos, Part B, 28(1/2), 1-4, 1997. doi:10.1016/S1359-8368(96)00016-9

2

R. Javaheri, M.R. Eslami, "Thermal buckling of functionally graded plates", AIAA J, 40(1), 162-169, 2002. doi:10.2514/2.1626

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