Analytical solution for bending and buckling analysis of functionally graded plates using inverse trigonometric shear deformation theory

Functionally graded materials have become more popular in recent decades due to its ability of efficient utilization of the constituents materials. The structural functionally graded plate (FGP) has variation of the properties in the thickness direction according to power law or exponential law. A recently developed non-polynomial shear deformation theory named as inverse trigonometric shear deformation theory (ITSDT) has proved its accuracy and efficiency in modeling and analyses of laminated composite and sandwich structures. However, its efficiency for the FGP has not examined so far in the literature. In the present study, an attempt is made to extend ITSDT for the static and buckling analysis of FGP. An analytical solution for all edges simply supported FGP is proposed in this work. The bending analysis includes calculation of in-plane and transverse displacements, along with the calculation of in-plane and transverse normal and shear stresses. The buckling analysis includes calculation of critical buckling load for various conditions. Also, the effect of power index, aspect ratio, span to thickness ratio, uniaxial and biaxial loading are studied. From the results, it is observed that the theory accurately predicts the static and buckling responses of FGP. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.