Influence of an initial imperfection on hygro-thermo-mechanical behaviors of FG plates laid on elastic foundation

The behavior of functionally graded plates with initial geometrical imperfection laid on elastic Winkler-Pasternak foundation is presented in this paper. During the manufacturing process of FG material, imperfections in the form of material and porosity may arise leading to the modification of the mechanical properties of parts manufactured from these materials. As a result, it is required to consider the hygro-thermo-mechanical behavior of FG plates having porosities in this study. Imperfect FG plates are considered to have even and uneven porosity distributions through their cross-sections. The equilibrium equations of a porous functionally graded plate are generated via the HSD-theory and the virtual work principle. The influence of porosity and material distribution parameters on the hygro-thermo-mechanical responses of the FG plate is exposed. Examples are also presented to demonstrate the impact of diversifying gradients, volume fraction of porosity, aspect ratios on the hygro-thermal and bending of the FG plates.