Axisymmetric snap-through behavior of Piezo-FGM shallow clamped spherical shells under thermo-electro-mechanical loading

Snap-through buckling of shallow clamped spherical shells made of functionally graded material (FGM) and surface-bonded piezoelectric actuators under the thermo-electro-mechanical loading is studied in this paper. The governing equations are based on the classical shell theory and the Sanders nonlinear kinematics equations. It is assumed that the property of the functionally graded materials vary continuously through the thickness of the shell according to a power law distribution of the volume fraction of the constituent materials. The constituent materials of the functionally graded shell are assumed to be mixture of ceramic and metal. The results show that the axisymmetric buckling of Piezo-FGM shallow clamped spherical shells under thermo-electro-mechanical loading is of snap-through type. The intensity of buckling is dependent on the geometry of the shell, value of thermo-electro-mechanical loading and type of thermal loading. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.