Thermo-mechanical buckling analysis of FGM plate using generalized plate theory

This paper investigates the thermo-mechanical buckling behavior of simply-supported FGM plate under the framework of generalized plate theory (GPT), which includes classical plate theory (CPT), first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT) as special cases. The governing equations for FGM plate under thermal and mechanical loading conditions are derived from the principle of virtual displacements and Navier-type solution is assumed for simply supported boundary condition. The efficiency and applicability of presented methodology is illustrated by considering various examples of thermal and mechanical buckling of FGM plates. The closed form solutions in the form of critical thermal and mechanical buckling loads, predicted by CPT, FSDT and HSDT are compared for different side-to-thickness of FGM plate. Subsequently, the effect of material gradation profile on critical buckling parameters is examined by evaluating the buckling response for a range of power law indexes. The effect of geometrical parameters on mechanical buckling of FGM plate under uni-axial and bi-axial loading conditions are also illustrated by calculating the critical load for various values of slenderness ratios. Furthermore a comparative analysis of critical thermal buckling loads of FGM plate for different temperature profiles is also presented. It is identified that all plate theories predicted approximately same critical buckling loads and critical buckling temperatures for thin FGM plate, however for thick FGM plates, CPT overestimates the critical buckling parameters. Moreover the critical buckling loads and critical buckling temperatures of FGM plate are found to be significantly lower than the corresponding homogenous isotropic ceramic plate (n=0).