TIME-DEPENDENT THERMO-ELASTIC CREEP ANALYSIS OF THICK-WALLED SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS MADE OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADED MATERIALS

Assuming that the thermo-elastic creep response of the material is governed by Norton's law and material properties, except Poisson's ratio, are considered as a function of the radius of the spherical vessel, an analytical solution is presented for calculation of stresses and displacements of axisymmetric thick-walled spherical pressure vessels made of functionally graded materials. This analytical solution could be used to study the time and temperature dependence of stresses in spherical vessels made of functionally graded materials. Creep stresses and displacements are plotted against dimensionless radius and time for different values of the powers of the material properties.