Thermal buckling behavior of functionally graded plates based on neutral surface

This work concerns with the thermal buckling behavior of Functionally Graded Materials (FGMs) based on neutral surface of structures. Especially, the materials have non-homogeneous properties with varying gradually from one surface to the other. In this regard, the neutral surface of the model is not the same as the mid-plane of structure due to asymmetry of material in the thickness direction, and thus it is necessary to select the neutral surface as the reference plane. Further, the material properties are temperature dependent, the location of the neutral surface depends also on the temperature change. For the crucial discussion, thermal buckling behaviors of FGMs are investigated based on the neutral surface concept. In the formulation, linear theory of plate is adopted based on the first-order shear deformation theory, and the steady state thermal conduction is considered as the one dimensional heat transfer. Numerical results show that the present works have little lower estimation of the buckling temperatures than previous data, and the shift of neutral planes are also observed by considering the static equilibrium of FGMs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.