THERMOELASTIC MODEL OF FUNCTIONALLY GRADIENT MATERIAL PLATES

A thermoelastic model of functionally gradient material plates is developed. In order to deal conveniently with the through-thickness variation of its material properties, a functionally gradient material plate is divided to a number of layers through its thickness like a composite laminate,each layer being treated as an isotropic one. When the number of layers involved is big enough, the material properties of each layer may be assumed as constants. A temperature zigzag hypothesis through the thickness and a displacement field hypothesis including transverse shear deformation are introduced to ensure the accuracy of the present model. The continuities of temperature, displacements and stresses between layers are ensured exactly. A transverse deformation function developed for the analysis of laminated composites is adopted in the present model to improve its accuracy. The present model is proved to be highly accurate and the existing analytical methods are examined in the numerical examples. The choice of the number of layers is also discussed.