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Volume 2, No 4, 2012
© Copyright 2010 All rights reserved Integrated Publishing services
Research article ISSN 0976 – 4399
ABSTRACT
Buckling behaviour of simply supported functionally graded material (FGM) plates under
constant and linearly varying in-plane compressive loads is investigated. The effect of shear
deformation is studied using higher order shear deformation theories (TSDT and FSDT) for
the case of uniform compression loading. For linearly varying load only the classical plate
theory (CPT) is employed. The Poisson’s ratio of the FGM plate is assumed to be constant,
but the Young’s modulus varies continuously throughout the thickness direction according to
the volume fraction of constituents defined by the power-law, the sigmoid, or the exponential
function. It is observed that the behaviour of FGM plates is quite similar to that of the
corresponding isotopic plate. The ratio of the buckling load of FGM plates to that of isotropic
plates is found to be more or less is independent of the loading parameter, the aspect ratio and
the width thickness ratio of the plate and is a function of only the material gradient index.
Relationships are developed to calculate the ratio of buckling loads for aluminium-alumina
FGM plates.
Keywords: Functionally graded material, buckling, plate THEORY, Shear deformation. Jam
1. Introduction
To the best of author’s knowledge, there are no references available in literature which deals
with buckling characteristics of different kinds of FGM plates under linearly varying in-plane
loads. The present investigation deals on this topic itself. Three types of FGM plates are
considered. The effect of shear deformation on moderately thick to thin plates is studied
using the CPT, FSDT and the TSDT for the case of a uniformly compressed simply supported
plate. Exact buckling loads are obtained using the Ritz method. Relationships are developed
for the ratio of buckling loads of FGM plates and the corresponding isotropic plates as a
function of the material gradient index for aluminium-alumina FGM plate.
Consider an elastic rectangular plate with coordinate system as shown in Figure 1. The
material properties, the Young’s modulus and the Poisson’s ratio, of the plate vary
continuously only in the thickness direction (z-axis) i.e., E = E (z), ν = ν (z) and hence the
plate is termed as functionally graded material plate. Delale and Erdogan[7] indicated that the
effect of Poisson’s ratio on the deformation is much less than that of Young’s modulus. Thus,
the Poisson’s ratio of the plate is assumed to be constant. However, the Young’s modulus in
the thickness direction of the FGM plate varies in accordance with the power-law function
(P-FGM), the exponential function (E-FGM), or with the sigmoid function (S-FGM).
x
b
y
z
The volume fraction g ( z ) of the P-FGM is assumed to obey the following power law
function ;
n
z 1
g ( z) = + (1)
h 2
where n is the material gradient index and h is the plate thickness. Once the local volume
fraction g(z) has been defined, the material properties of a P-FGM can be determined by the
rule of mixture
E ( z ) = Ec g ( z ) + Em [1 − g ( z ) ] (2)
where Em and Ec are respectively, the Young’s moduli of the lowest (z = -h/2) and top
surfaces (z = h/2) of the FGM plate. The subscripts m and c represent the metallic and
ceramic constituents, respectively. The variation of Young’s modulus in the thickness
direction of the P-FGM plate is depicted in figure 2, which shows that the Young’s modulus
changes rapidly near the lowest surface for n > 1, and increases quickly near the top surface
for n < 1.
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
changes rapidly . Therefore, Chung and Chi defined the volume fraction using two power-
law functions to ensure smooth distribution of stresses among all the interfaces. The two
power law functions are defined by:
n
1 2z
g1 ( z ) = 1 − 1 − , 0 ≤ z ≤ h/2 (3a)
2 h
n
1 2z
g 2 ( z ) = 1 + , −h / 2 ≤ z ≤ 0 (3b)
2 h
Ec4
n=0.1
n=0.2
Young's Modulus
n=0.5
n=1
n=2
n=5
n=10
n=100
Em
z/h
E ( z ) = g1 ( z ) Ec + [1 − g1 ( z ) ] Em , 0 ≤ z ≤ h/2 (4a)
E ( z ) = g 2 ( z ) Ec + [1 − g 2 ( z )] Em , −h / 2 ≤ z ≤ 0 (4b)
Figure 3 shows that the variation of Young’s modulus is given by Eqs. (4a) and (4b) which
represents the sigmoid distribution.
Many researchers used the exponential function to describe variation in Young’s modulus
[7];
E ( z ) = Ae B ( z + h / 2) (5)
1 Ec
ln with A = Em
B=
h Em
The variation in E(z) in the thickness direction is shown in figure 4.
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
Ec n=1
n=2
n=3
n=5
n=6
Young's Modulus
n=8
n=10
Em
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
z/h
Ec
Young's Modulus
Em
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
z/h
A rectangular plate under uniform in-plane compressive load N0 (per unit length) is
considered (Figure 5). Although results are obtained using CPT,FSDT and TSDT, the
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
formulation is presented in brief for CPT only. The governing relations for all the three
theories are based on the formulation given in Reddy.
u ( x, y, z ) = u0 ( x, y ) − zw0, x (6a)
v( x, y, z ) = v0 ( x, y ) − zw0, y (6b)
w( x, y, z ) = w0 ( x, y ) (6c)
where u , v and w are the displacement components of a point on the plate along the x , y,
and z, directions respectively while u0 , v0 and w0 are the corresponding displacements of a
point on the mid-plane of the plate. A comma signifies differentiation with respect to the
suffix that follows.
{ε } = {ε 0 } + z {ε 1} (7)
uo , x − w0, xx
1
where {ε } = vo , y , {ε } = − w0, yy
0
v + u −2 w
o, y o, y 0, xy
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
{σ } = [Q]{ε } (8)
1 ν 0
where Q = Q 11 ν 1 0 , Q 11 = E ( z ) (1 −ν 2 )
0 0 (1 −ν ) 2
Since the plate is considered simply supported along all edges, the boundary conditions are
w = 0
at x = 0 and x = a (10a)
M x = 0
w = 0
at y = 0 and y = b (10b)
M y = 0
The above boundary conditions are satisfied by the following displacement field:.
where α = mπ / a and β = nπ / b , m and n being integers, and Umn , Vmn and Wmn are the
undetermined coefficients. On substitution of above expressions in equilibrium equations
(9a-c) one obtains three algebraic relations in Umn , Vmn and Wmn. For a non-trivial solution
(i.e. to obtain the buckling load), the determinant formed by the coefficients of Umn , Vmn ,
Wmn is set to zero, this leads to a characteristics equation the solution of which yields the
critical load N0.
Buckling loads are calculated for a metallic-ceramic FGM plate comprising alumina and
aluminium mixture with following material properties:
First, results are compared with available ones for a plate of aspect ratio 0.5 and for the
material gradient index n=1. This is given in Table.1. As can be seen, results obtained are
exact.
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
Tables 2 -4 give the comparison of critical buckling load for P-FGM, S-FGM and E-FGM
plates respectively based on three theories. A broad conclusion that can be derived based on
these results is that the effect of shear deformation is not significant even in the moderately
thick plates. For a/h=10 in case of P-FGMs, the difference based on CPT and FSDT results is
5.2% ,4.53% and 3.6% for n=0.1,1,10 respectively. The values for S-FGMs are also very
much the same. The higher is the value of material gradient index n, lesser is the effect of
transverse shear. For an E-FGM, the difference in the buckling load is 4.68% for a/h=10.
Table 2: Non- dimensionalized buckling loads ( N = N xxb2 / Em h3 ) for a square P-FGM plate
b/h N
n=0.1 n=1 n=10
CPT FSDT TSDT CPT FSDT TSDT CPT FSDT TSDT
10 17.6883 16.7678 16.7231 9.7822 9.3388 9.2123 5.8798 5.6681 5.531
20 17.6883 17.4489 17.3971 9.7822 9.6674 9.4563 5.8798 5.7852 5.653
40 17.6883 17.6279 17.5012 9.7822 9.7532 9.7212 5.8798 5.8558 5.849
50 17.6883 17.6496 17.5954 9.7822 9.7636 9.7432 5.8798 5.8644 5.856
100 17.6883 17.6786 17.6687 9.7822 9.7775 9.7653 5.8798 5.8759 5.875
Table 3: Non- dimensionalized buckling loads ( N = N xxb2 / Em h3 ) for a square S-FGM plate
b/h N
n=0.1 n=1 n=10
CPT FSDT TSDT CPT FSDT TSDT CPT FSDT TSDT
10 11.5459 10.9333 10.7421 9.7822 9.3388 9.3123 7.6088 7.3378 7.297
20 11.5459 11.3864 11.3124 9.7822 9.6674 9.5932 7.6088 7.5392 7.512
40 11.5459 11.5056 11.4786 9.7822 9.7532 9.7213 7.6088 7.5913 7.583
50 11.5459 11.5201 11.5174 9.7822 9.7636 9.7312 7.6088 7.5976 7.593
100 11.5459 11.5395 11.5352 9.7822 9.7775 9.7761 7.6088 7.6060 7.605
Table 4: Non- dimensionalized buckling loads( N = N xxb2 / Em h3 ) for a square E-FGM plate
b/h N
CPT FSDT TSDT
10 8.2497 7.8631 7.3123
20 8.2497 8.1495 8.0975
40 8.2497 8.2244 8.2134
50 8.2497 8.2335 8.2319
100 8.2497 8.2456 8.2439
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
Figure 6-8 illustrate the variation of non-dimensionalized buckling load with aspect ratio for
all types of FGM plates under uniaxial load. Results are based on the classical plate theory
(CPT) only. The ratio of b/h of the plate is kept 20. The range of material gradient index n
(Eq. 1 and 3) is 0.1 to 500. For n→0, P-FGM plate will be ceramic rich; the plate behavior
tends towards that of corresponding homogenous ceramic plate. For large values of n (n>100),
the plate will be metallic rich; the P-FGM plate behavior is identical to that of the
corresponding metallic plate (which is an isotropic plate). Hereafter, the buckling load
corresponding to n=500 is termed as Niso for P-FGM plates. Since this Niso is for the metallic
plate, the same is used for the comparison of S-FGM and E-FGM plates. In figure 6-8, a kink
in the curve indicates the changes in buckling mode. For all cases, as it is true for an isotropic
plate, the lowest buckling load corresponds to one half wave in the transverse direction and
an increasing values of m (number of half wave along the longitudinal direction) as the aspect
ratio a/b increases. There is a rapid decrease in the critical load as the aspect ratio change
from 0.5 to 2.0; beyond that there is no appreciable variation in the buckling load.
30
n=0.1
n=1
n=10
25
n=100
n=500
20
15
10
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 6: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different n of
P-FGM plate, b/h=20
19
n=0.1
18
n=1
17
n=10
16 n=100
15 n=500
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figurer 7: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different n of
S-FGM plate ,b/h=20
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
40
35
30
25
N 20
15
10
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
a/b
Figure 8: Non-dimensional zed buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio of E-FGM plate,
b/h=20
Now consider the case when a rectangular plate is subjected to linearly varying edge loading,
as shown in Figure 9. The applied load along x=0, a is given by
y
N xx = − N 0 1 − k (12)
b
where N0 is the intensity of compressive force and k is the numerical loading parameter.
It is assumed that the stress distribution applied at the ends of the plate (x = 0,x = a) remains
the same within its interior, and satisfies the plane elasticity equations exactly. By changing
k, we can obtain various particular cases. For example, by taking k = 0 we have the case of
uniformly distributed compressive force. When k = 1, the compressive force varies linearly
from -N0 at y = 0 to zero at y = b. For k = 2 we obtain the case of pure in-plane bending. With
other k in the range 0 < k < 2, we have a combination of bending and compression. Examples
of these cases are shown in Figure 10.
The Ritz method is employed in the present formulation. The total potential energy of the
plate is given by
V = U − We (13)
∂u 2 ∂v
2
∂u ∂v
2 2
∂v ∂u ∂u ∂v
A11 + A22 + A66 + + 2 − 2 A12
∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
1
b a
∂u ∂ 2 w ∂v ∂ 2 w ∂ 2 w ∂v ∂u ∂u ∂ 2 w ∂v ∂ 2 w
U = ∫ ∫ −2 B11 − 2 B22 − 4 B66 + − 2 B12 + dxdy
200 ∂x ∂x 2 ∂y ∂y 2 ∂x∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
2
∂y ∂x 2
2 2 2
2 2 2
2
2
D11 ∂ w ∂ w ∂ w ∂ w ∂ w
+ D22 2 + 2 D12 2 + 4 D66
∂x 2 ∂y ∂x ∂y 2 ∂x∂y
(14)
and the work done We, by the external in-plane uniaxial load is
1 ∂w
b a 2
2 ∫0 ∫0
We = xx
N dxdy (15)
∂x
As all the edges of the plate are simply supported, the displacements are expressed as in Eq.
(11a-c) which satisfy the boundary conditions exactly. Next step is to minimize the potential
energy V in Eq. 13 with respect to unknown coefficients in the displacement field. This
yields Ritz equations; the number of equation depends upon the number of terms used in the
displacement field. By setting the determinant of the matrix formed of unknown coefficients
equal to zero, one can obtain the lowest value of N0.
In order to verify the formulation for obtaining buckling loads of linearly varying cases
results are first compared with those of Kang and Leissa for a square isotropic plate. This is
shown in Table. 5. The agreement is very good between two sets of results.
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
For FGM plates all five cases of linearly varying loads are considered for obtaining buckling
loads. Three types of FGM (P-FGM, S-FGM and E-FGM) are considered. In each of the case
the aspect ratio a/b of the plate varies from 0.5 to 5. Results of buckling loads for different
aspect ratios are given in Figure 11-13 (for n=0.1, 1, 100 respectively), in figure 14-15 for S-
FGM (for n=0.1 and 10) and in Figure 16 for E-FGM. In all cases, the buckled mode is such
that there is only one half wave in the transverse direction but the number of half waves in the
longitudinal direction depends upon the aspect ratio. The critical load is the lowest for k=0
(uniform load) and is the highest for k=2 (case of pure flexure). For all FGMs and for all
types of load cases considered, the buckling load remains lowest for a square plate. There is a
substantial decrease in the buckling loads in the range a/b=0.5 to 1, and there is some
variations in loads upto a/b=2.0. But beyond a/b=3.5, the buckling loads are constant
irrespective of the load parameter, k. Like in the case of uniform compression, for linearly
varying loads too, buckling characteristics are quite similar to those of the corresponding
isotropic plate.
k=0
k=0.5
180 k=1
k=1.5
160 k=2
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 11: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of P-FGM plate, n=0.1.
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
95 k=0
90 k=0.5
85 k=1
80 k=1.5
75 k=2
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 12: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of P-FGM plate, n=1.
Its is interesting to observe that buckling loads of FGM plate bear a constant ratio with the
buckling load of corresponding isotropic plate irrespective of the aspect ratio, width to
thickness ratio and the nature of linearly varying load, i.e. the value of k. While this load ratio
depends on the ratio of respective Young’s modulus for E-FGMs. For P-FGMs and S-FGMs,
it is a function of the material gradient index, n. This also mentioned in section 3 for the case
of uniform compression.
k=0
k=0.5
k=1
60
k=1.5
k=2
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 13: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of P-FGM plate, n=100.
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
k=0
120 k=0.5
k=1
110 k=1.5
k=2
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 14: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of S-FGM plate, n=0.1.
k=0
85 k=0.5
80 k=1
k=1.5
75
k=2
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 15: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of S-FGM plate, n=10.
k=0
85 k=0.5
80
k=1
k=1.5
75
k=2
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0 1 2 3 4 5
a/b
Figure 16: Non-dimensionalized buckling load N = N xxb2 / Em h3 vs aspect ratio for different k
of E-FGM plate.
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Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
In view of the above observation, an attempt is made to obtain an analytical relation between
κ (ratio of buckling load of FGM plate to buckling load of isotropic plate) and n using the
best fit curve through actual points. For the case of P-FGMs, the curve is the third order
exponential decay given by Eq. 16. The coefficient of correlation obtained is 0.9999 i.e.
almost tending to one, which signifies exact correspondence between the actual data points
and the curve fitted (figure 17). For S-FGMs, it is convenient to express the relation between
κ and log10n,
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
1.8
κ
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0 200 400 600 800 1000
n
The best fitted curve in this case is the fourth order polynomial equation given by Eq. 17. As
seen from Figure 18, the maximum variation in κ is for 0<n<10; beyond that , κ is almost
constant.
κ = 2.7 −1.3log 10
2
n + 0.91( log10 n ) − 0.3( log10 n ) + 0.03( log10 n )
3 4
(17)
2.6
2.5
2.4
κ
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.0
10 100 1000
log10n
In this case the correlation is very good between the curve fit and the actual data points
(R2=0.9999). Equations 16 and 17 make the estimation of the buckling load very simple.
Once the plate geometry is fixed, only thing the designer has to decide only the value of n as
the per design requirements.
1. The influence of transverse shear on buckling loads is almost similar for all types of
FGMs. The effect of shear deformation is found to decrease with increasing value of n,
the material gradient index.
2. The characteristics behaviour of FGM plate lie in between the characteristics
behaviour of the homogenous metallic and ceramic plates. As n→0, the behaviour of
the P-FGM plate tends to be that of ceramic plate, while for n tending to a large value
say 100.
3. P-FGMs can be tailored to achieve highest value of buckling as n→0 as compared to
S-FGMs and E-FGMs.
4. The ratio of buckling load of FGM plate to that isotropic plate of metallic constituents
is constant regardless to loading parameter, aspect ratio and width thickness ratio.
5. The approximate relationships for ratio of FGM plate to isotropic plate and material
gradient index, n suggested has very high degree of accuracy for aluminium-alumina
FGM plate.
6. References
1. Javaheri R, Eslami MR., (2002), Buckling of functionally graded plates under in-
plane compressive loading, ZAMM, 82(4), pp 277–83.
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Buckling of simply supported FGM plates under uniaxial load
Rohit Saha, Maiti. P.R
7. Delale F, Erdogan F., (1983), The crack problem for a nonhomogeneous plane.
ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, 50, pp 609–614.
9. Lee YD, Erdogan F., (1995), Residual/thermal stress in FGM and laminated thermal
barrier coatings, International Journal of Fracture, 69, pp 145–165
10. Chung YL, Chi SH., (2001), The residual stress of functionally graded materials.
Journal of the Chinese Institute of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, 13, pp 1–9.
11. Reddy JN., (2004), Mechanics of Laminated Composite Plates and Shells: Theory and
Analysis, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, Second Edition.
12. Kang JH, Leissa AW., (2005), Exact solutions for the buckling of rectangular plates
having linearly varying in-plane loading on two opposite simply supported edges, Int
Journal of Solids and Structures, 42, pp 4220–4238.
13. Saha Rohit & Maiti P. R., (2009), Influence of Multilayer vdW Interaction on
Torsional Buckling of Multi-walled Carbon Nano-tube under Thermal Filleds, Journal
of Reinforced Plastics & Composites , 28(24), pp 3009-3020
14. Saha Rohit & Maiti P. R. “Vibration characteristics of axially loaded rotating
functionally graded cylindrical shell” 49th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures,
Structural Dynamics, and Materials, 7-10 April 2008, Schaumburg, IL
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