NONLINEAR STABILITY ANALYSIS OF AN FGM PLATE UNDER NONUNIFORM IN-PLANE LOADING

摘要

Buckling and postbuckling studies of Al/Al _( 2 ) O _( 3 ) FGM plate under various types of nonuniform compressive loading are carried out using the finite element analysis based on the first-order shear deformation theory and the von Karman nonlinear kinematics. The actual nonhomogeneous FGM plate with continuously varying properties over the thickness direction is modeled as a laminate composed of multiple perfectly bonded layers of isotropic material having layerwise constant properties. The mechanical properties of an FGM plate along the thickness, such as elastic constants, are calculated by using simple power law but the Poisson ratio is taken constant. Accuracy of the present formulation is validated by comparing the results obtained from the present model with the results available in the literature. Parametric studies are conducted to examine the effects of material inhomogeneity, slenderness ratio, aspect ratio, and boundary conditions on nonlinear buckling and postbuckling responses of the FGM plate subjected to different types of uniform and nonuniform load distributions. It is observed that the profile of in-plane load distribution affects the buckling and postbuckling behavior of the FGM plate considerably, and the maximum buckling and postbuckling strengths are obtained for parabolic load distribution. Moreover, higher buckling and postbuckling strengths are obtained for the FGM plate as compared to that of a pure metal plate.