Thermal Buckling Analysis of Moderately Thick Plates using Functionally Graded Strips

In the current study, the critical buckling of functionally graded plates (FGPs) subjected to thermal loads is evaluated using the finite strip method based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The material properties of these plates are assumed to vary in the thickness direction of the plate according to the power law distribution in terms of volume fractions of the constituents. The plates' boundary conditions are assumed to be simply supported in all the edges or clamped in side edges and simply supported on the ends. The fundamental eigen-buckling equations for the plates are obtained by discretizing the plate into some strips, called functionally graded strip (FGS). The solution is obtained by the minimization of the total potential energy as well as solving the eigenvalue problem. The effects of material gradient index, aspect ratio and different thermal loadings (i.e. uniform temperature rise and nonlinear temperature change across the thickness) on the critical buckling temperature difference will be presented in some graphical forms.