See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/225979172

A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis of functionally
graded plates

Article  in  Acta Mechanica Sinica · December 2010

DOI: 10.1007/s10409-010-0372-1

CITATIONS READS

66 177

5 authors, including:

Ismail Mechab Ait Atmane Hassen

University of Sidi-Bel-Abbes Hassiba Benbouali University of Chlef
39 PUBLICATIONS   1,250 CITATIONS    20 PUBLICATIONS   877 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Application of the DQM - DTM-MEF method for the non-linear vibration and Buckling of nanocomposites with FGM materials View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ait Atmane Hassen on 01 April 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Acta Mech Sin (2010) 26:941–949
DOI 10.1007/s10409-010-0372-1
RESEARCH PAPER
A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis
of functionally graded plates
Ismail Mechab · Hassen Ait Atmane ·
Abdlouahed Tounsi · Hichem Abdesselem Belhadj ·
El Abbas Adda Bedia
Received: 24 November 2009 / Revised: 15 March 2010 / Accepted: 6 April 2010 / Published online: 17 September 2010
© The Chinese Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Springer-Verlag GmbH 2010
Abstract Bending analysis of functionally graded plates
using the two variable refined plate theory is presented in this
paper. The number of unknown functions involved is reduced
to merely four, as against five in other shear deformation the-
ories. The variationally consistent theory presented here has,
in many respects, strong similarity to the classical plate the-
ory. It does not require shear correction factors, and gives rise
to such transverse shear stress variation that the transverse
shear stresses vary parabolically across the thickness and sat-
isfy shear stress free surface conditions. Material properties
of the plate are assumed to be graded in the thickness direc-
tion with their distributions following a simple power-law in
terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. Governing
equations are derived from the principle of virtual displace-
ments, and a closed-form solution is found for a simply sup-
ported rectangular plate subjected to sinusoidal loading by
using the Navier method. Numerical results obtained by the
present theory are compared with available solutions, from
which it can be concluded that the proposed theory is accu-
rate and simple in analyzing the static bending behavior of
functionally graded plates.
Keywords FG plates · Shear deformation theory · Refined
plate theory · Higher-order theory · Navier solution
I. Mechab · H. A. Atmane · A. Tounsi (B) · H. A. Belhadj ·
E. A. A. Bedia
Laboratoire des Matériaux et Hydrologie, Université de Sidi Bel
Abbes, BP 89 Cité Ben M’hidi, 22000 Sidi Bel Abbes, Algérie
e-mail: tou_abdel@yahoo.com
H. A. Atmane
Département de génie civil, Faculté des Sciences de l’Ingénieur,
Université Hassiba Benbouali de Chlef, Chlef, Algérie
1 Introduction
In recent years, astonishing advances in science and
technology have motivated researchers to work on new struc-
tural materials. Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are
classified as novel composite materials which are widely
used in aerospace, nuclear, civil, automotive, optical, biome-
chanical, electronic, chemical, mechanical, and shipbuilding
industries. By gradually varying the volume fraction of con-
stituent materials, their material properties exhibit a smooth
and continuous change from one surface to another, thus
eliminating interface problems and mitigating thermal stress
concentrations. FGMs now have been regarded as one of
the most promising candidates for future intelligent compos-
ites in various engineering sectors such as aerospace, fast
computers, biomedical industry, environmental sensors, etc.
FGMs may possess a number of advantages such as high
resistance to temperature gradients, significant reduction in
residual and thermal stresses, and high wear resistance.
In the past three decades, researches on plates have
received great attention, and a variety of plate theories has
been proposed, in which the plates are generally subjected
to various types of mechanical loads. In particular, knowl-
edge pertaining to bending is essential for optimal design
of structures. For example, our numerical examples clearly
show that with a suitable volume fraction exponent “ p” for
FGM, one could achieve an optimal design for FGM plates.
It is worthwhile to present some developments in the plate
theory. The classical plate theory (CPT), which neglects the
transverse shear effects, provides reasonable results for thin
plates; however, it underpredicts deflections and overpredicts
frequencies as well as buckling loads for moderately thick
plates. For composite plates and shells, the shear deforma-
tion, extensional-bending and bending-shear couplings play
important role in the failure and instability of structures
123
942
[1–3]. Therefore, in order to obtain accurate and reliable
predictions of responses of composite plates, it is neces-
sary to develop a new engineering theory. Many shear defor-
mation theories accounting for transverse shear effects have
been developed to overcome the deficiencies of the CPT. The
first-order shear deformation theories (FSDTs) based on Re-
issner [4] and Mindlin [5] accounted for the transverse shear
effects by means of linear variation of in-plane displacements
across the thickness. Since FSDT violates the equilibrium
conditions at the plate’s top and bottom faces, the shear cor-
rection factors are needed to rectify the unrealistic variation
of the shear strain/stress across the thickness. In order to
overcome the limitations of FSDT, higher-order shear defor-
mation theories (HSDTs) involving higher-order terms in
Taylor’s expansions of the displacements in the thickness
coordinate were developed by Librescu [6], Levinson [7],
Bhimaraddi and Stevens [8], Reddy [9], Ren [10], Kant and
Pandya [11], and Mohan et al. [12]. A good review of these
theories for the analysis of laminated composite plates is
available in Refs. [13–17]. A two variable refined plate theory
(RPT) using only two unknown functions was developed by
Shimpi [18] for isotropic plates, and was extended by Shimpi
and Patel [19,20] to orthotropic plates. Recently, a two vari-
able refined plate theory was developed by Kim et al. [21] for
laminated composite plates, the most interesting feature of
which is that it does not require shear correction factor, and
has strong similarities to the CPT in such respects as govern-
ing equation, boundary conditions and moment expressions.
This paper aims to develop an RPT for functionally graded
plates (FGPs). The plate is assumed isotropic at any point
within the plate, with its Young’s modulus varying across its
thickness in accord with a power-law in terms of the vol-
ume fractions of the plate constituents while the Poisson’s
ratio remaining constant. The present theory satisfies equi-
librium conditions at the plate’s top and bottom faces with-
out using shear correction factors. Navier solution is used to
obtain closed-form solutions for simply supported FG plates.
Numerical results are presented for an aluminum/alumina
functionally graded plate. To make the study feasible, the
displacements and stresses are given for different homogeni-
zation schemes and exponents in the power law that describes
across-the-thickness variation of the constituents.
2 Refined plate theory for functionally graded plates
2.1 Basic assumptions
Consider a solid rectangular plate of length a, width b and
thickness h made of functionally graded material as shown
in Fig. 1 together with the adopted coordinate system. The
material properties of the FGM plate, such as Young’s mod-
ulus E, are assumed to be function of the volume fraction
123
I. Mechab et al.
Fig. 1 Geometry of rectangular FGM plate
of constituent materials. Let the FGM plate be subjected to
a transverse load q(x, y), and a rectangular Cartesian co-
ordinate of x and y is introduced for the deformation anal-
ysis of the plate. The plate under study is bounded by the
co-ordinate planes x = 0, a and y = 0, b. The reference
surface is the middle surface of the plate defined by z =
0, and z denotes the thickness co-ordinate measured from
the un-deformed middle surface. The functional relationship
between E and z for the ceramic and metal FGM plate is
assumed to be [22,23]
E(z) = E m + E cm Vf ,
 p (1)
1 z
E cm = E c − E m , Vf = + ,
2 h
where E c and E m are the corresponding properties of the
ceramic and metal, respectively, and p is the volume fraction
exponent which takes values greater than or equal to zero. The
above power-law assumption reflects a simple rule of mix-
tures used to obtain the effective properties of the ceramic-
metal plate. The rule of mixtures applies only to the thickness
direction. Note that the volume fraction of the metal is high
near the bottom surface of the plate, and that of the ceramic
is high near the top surface. Furthermore, Eq. (1) indicates
that the bottom surface of the plate (z = −h/2) is metal-rich
whereas the top surface (z = h/2) of the plate is ceramic-
rich. Generally, Poisson’s ratio ν varies in a small range. For
simplicity, ν is assumed constant across the plate thickness.
Figure 2 shows the volume fraction distribution of metallic
phase across the thickness for several values of the power
law index. The value of p equal to zero represents a fully
ceramic plate and infinite p a fully metallic plate. The var-
iation of the composition of ceramics and metal is linear
for p = 1. When the value of p increases or the volume
fraction Vf decreases, the content of metal in an FG plate
increases.
Assumptions of the RPT are as follows:
(1) The displacements are small in comparison with the
plate thickness and thus the strains involved are infini-
tesimal.
A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis 943
 
∂wb 1 5  z 2 ∂ws
U (x, y, z) = u(x, y) − z +z − ,
∂x 4 3 h ∂x
 
∂wb 1 5  z 2 ∂ws
V (x, y, z) = v(x, y) − z +z − ,
∂y 4 3 h ∂y
W (x, y, z) = wb (x, y) + ws (x, y). (5)

The strains associated with the displacements in Eq. (5)

are

εx = εx0 + zk xb + f k xs ,
ε y = ε0y + zk by + f k sy ,
γx y = γx0y + zk xby + f k xs y ,
(6)
Fig. 2 Variation of the volume fraction across the thickness of a plate γ yz = gγ yz
s
,
γx z = gγxsz ,
(2) The transverse displacement W includes two compo- εz = 0,
nents: bending wb and shear ws , and these components
are functions of coordinates x, y only. where
∂u ∂ 2 wb
εx0 = , k xb = − ,
W (x, y, z) = wb (x, y) + ws (x, y). (2) ∂x ∂x2
∂ 2 ws ∂v
k xs = − 2 , ε0y = ,
(3) The transverse normal stress σz is negligible in com- ∂x ∂y
parison with the in-plane stresses σx and σ y . ∂ 2 wb ∂ 2 ws
k by = − 2 , k sy = − 2 ,
(4) The displacements U in the x-direction and V in the ∂y ∂y
y-direction consist of extension, bending, and shear ∂u ∂v ∂ 2 wb
components. γx0y = + , k xby = −2 , (7)
∂y ∂x ∂ x∂ y
∂ 2 ws ∂ws
U = u + u b + u s , V = v + vb + vs . (3) k xs y = −2 , γ yzs
= ,
∂ x∂ y ∂y
∂ws 1 5  z 2
γxsz = , f =− z+ z ,
The bending components u b and vb are assumed to be sim- ∂x 4 3 h
ilar to the displacements given by the CPT. Therefore, the 5  z 2
g= −5 .
expression for u b and vb can be given as 4 h
∂wb ∂wb For elastic and isotropic FGMs, the constitutive relations
u b = −z , vb = −z . (4a) can be written as
∂x ∂y ⎧ ⎫ ⎡ ⎤⎧ ⎫
⎨ σx ⎬ Q 11 Q 12 0 ⎨ εx ⎬
The shear components u s and vs give rise, in conjunction
σy = ⎣ Q 12 Q 22 0 ⎦ ε y ,
with ws , to the parabolic variations of shear strains γx z , γ yz ⎩ ⎭ ⎩ ⎭
τx y 0 0 Q 66 γx y (8)
and hence to shear stresses τx z , τ yz across the thickness of     
the plate in such a way that the shear stresses τx z , τ yz are zero τ yz Q 44 0 γ yz
= ,
at the top and bottom faces of the plate. Consequently, the τzx 0 Q 55 γzx
expression for u s and vs can be given as where σx , σ y , τx y , τ yz , τ yx and εx , ε y , γx y , γ yz , γ yx are the
   
1 5  z 2 ∂ws 1 5  z 2 ∂ws stress and strain components, respectively. Using the mate-
us = z − z , vs = z − z . rial properties defined in Eq. (1), the stiffness coefficients,
4 3 h ∂x 4 3 h ∂y
Q i j , can be expressed as
(4b)
E(z)
Q 11 = Q 22 = ,
2.2 Kinematics and constitutive equations 1 − ν2
ν E(z)
Q 12 = , (9)
Based on the assumptions made in the preceding section, the 1 − ν2
displacement field can be obtained by using Eqs. (2), (3), (4a, E(z)
Q 44 = Q 55 = Q 66 = .
4b) as 2(1 + ν)

123
944 I. Mechab et al.

⎧ ⎫ ⎡ ⎤⎧ 0 ⎫
2.3 Governing equations ⎨ Nx y ⎬ s
A66 B66 B66 ⎨ γx y ⎬
Mb = ⎣ B66 D66 D s ⎦ k xby , (13)
⎩ xs y ⎭ s Ds H s
66 ⎩ ⎭
The governing equations of equilibrium can be derived by Mx y B66 66 66 k xs y
using the principle of virtual displacements. The principle of  s   s  
S yz A44 0 γ yz
virtual work in the present case yields = ,
Sxs z 0 As55 γzx

h/2
where Ai j , Bi j , etc. are the plate stiffness defined by
(σx δεx + σ y δε y + τx y δγx y + τ yz δγ yz
−h/2 
 h/2
+ τx z δγx z )ddz − qδW d = 0, (10) {Ai j , Bi j , Di j , E i j , Fi j , Hi j } = {1, z, z 2 , z 3 , z 4 , z 6 }Q i j dz,
 −h/2
(i, j = 1, 2, 6),
where  is the top surface. 1 5
By substituting Eqs. (5), (6) and (8) into Eq. (10) and Bisj = − Bi j + 2 E i j , (i, j = 1, 2, 6),
4 3h
integrating through the thickness of the plate, Eq. (11) can 1 5
be rewritten as Disj = − Di j + 2 Fi j , (i, j = 1, 2, 6), (14)
4 3h
  1 5 25
Hisj = Di j − 2 Fi j + 4 Hi j , (i, j = 1, 2, 6),
N x δεx0 + N y δε0y + N x y δεx0 y + Mxb δk xb + M yb δk by 16 6h 9h

h/2
{Ai j , Di j , Fi j } = {1, z 2 , z 4 }Q i j dz, (i, j = 4, 5),
+Mxby δk xby + Mxs δk xs + M ys δk sy + Mxs y δk xs y + S yz
s
δγ yz
s
 −h/2

+Sxs z δγxsz d − q(δwb + δwb )d = 0, (11) 25 25 25
Ais j = Ai j − 2 Di j + 4 Fi j , (i, j = 4, 5).
 16 6h h

where the stress resultants N, M, and S are defined by The governing equations of equilibrium can be derived
from Eq. (11) by integrating the displacement gradients by
h/2 parts and setting the coefficients δu, δv, δwb , and δws to zero
(N x , N y , N x y ) = (σx , σ y , τx y )dz, individually. Thus, one can obtain the equilibrium equations
−h/2 associated with the present RPT for the FG plate as
h/2
∂ Nx ∂ Nx y
(Mxb , M yb , Mxby ) = (σx , σ y , τx y )zdz, δu : + = 0,
∂x ∂y
−h/2
(12) ∂ Nx y ∂ Ny
h/2 δv : + = 0,
∂x ∂y
(Mxs , M ys , Mxs y ) = (σx , σ y , τx y ) f dz, (15)
∂ 2 Mxb ∂ 2 Mxby ∂ 2 M yb
−h/2 δwb : + 2 + + q = 0,
∂x2 ∂ x∂ y ∂ y2
h/2
∂ 2 Mxs ∂ 2 Mxs y ∂ 2 M ys ∂ Sxs z ∂ S yzs
(Sxs z , S yz
s
)= (τx z , τ yz )gdz. δws : +2 + + + +q = 0.
∂x2 ∂ x∂ y ∂ y2 ∂x ∂y
−h/2

Equation (15) can be expressed in terms of displace-

By substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (12) and integrating
ments (u, v, wb , ws ) by substituting the stress resultants from
through the thickness of the plate, the stress resultants are
Eq. (13). For FG plates, the equilibrium Eq. (20) take the form
given as
⎧ ⎫ ⎡ s ⎤ ⎧ 0⎫ ∂ 2u ∂ 2u ∂ 2v ∂ 3 wb
⎪ Nx ⎪ A11 A12 B11 B12 s
B11 B12 ⎪ εx ⎪ A11 + A + (A + A ) − B
⎪
⎪ ⎪ ⎪ 0⎪ ∂x2
66
∂ y2
12 66
∂ x∂ y
11
∂x3
⎪
⎪
⎪ Ny ⎪
⎪
⎪ ⎢ A12 A22 B12 B22 s
B12 s ⎥
B22 ⎥ ⎪⎪
⎪ ε y⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ Mb ⎪
⎬ ⎢ ⎪
⎨ b⎬
⎪
∂ wb s ∂ ws
3 3
⎢ B11 B12 D11 D12 s
D11 s ⎥
D12 k
x
=⎢
⎢ B12 s ⎥
⎥× b ,
x −(B12 + 2B66 )
∂ x∂ y 2
− B11
∂x3
⎪
⎪ M yb ⎪
⎪ ⎢ B22 D12 D22 s
D12 D22 ⎥ ⎪⎪ ky ⎪⎪
⎪
⎪ s⎪⎪ ⎣ Bs s ⎦ ⎪
⎪ s⎪⎪
⎪ Mx ⎪
⎪ ⎪
s
B12 s
D11 s
D12 s
H11 H12 ⎪
⎪ kx ⎪⎪ ∂ ws
3
⎩ s ⎭ 11
s s s s s s ⎩ s ⎭ −(B12s
+ 2B66
s
) = 0,
My B12 B22 D12 D22 H12 H22 ky ∂ x∂ y 2

123
A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis 945

∂ 2u ∂ 2v ∂ 2v ∂wb
(A12 + A66 ) + A66 2 + A22 2 u(x, 0) = wb (x, 0) = ws (x, 0) = (x, 0)
∂ x∂ y ∂x ∂y ∂x
∂ws
∂ 3 wb ∂ 3 wb = (x, 0) = 0, (17d)
−(B12 + 2B66 ) − B22 ∂x
∂ x 2∂ y ∂ y3
∂wb
∂ 3 ws u(x, b) = wb (x, b) = ws (x, b) = (x, b)
s ∂ ws
3
−(B12
s
+ 2B66
s
) 2 − B22 = 0, ∂x
∂x ∂y ∂ y3
∂ws
= (x, b) = 0, (17e)
∂ 3u ∂ 3u ∂ 3v ∂x
B11 3 + (B12 + 2B66 ) + (B12 + 2B66 ) 2
∂x ∂ x∂ y 2 ∂x ∂y
N y (x, 0) = M yb (x, 0) = M ys (x, 0) = N y (x, b)
∂ 3v ∂ 4 wb ∂ 4 wb
+B22 − D 11 − 2(D 12 + 2D 66 ) = M yb (x, b) = M ys (x, b) = 0. (17f)
∂ y3 ∂x4 ∂ x 2∂ y2

∂ 4 wb s ∂ ws
4 ∂ 4 ws To solve this problem, Navier presented the external force
−D22 − D11 − 2(D12
s
+ 2D66
s
) 2 2
∂y 4 ∂x 4 ∂x ∂y in the form of a double trigonometric series

∂ 4 ws ∞ 
 ∞
−D22
s
+ q = 0, q(x, y) = qmn sin(λx) sin(μy), (18)
∂ y4
m=1 n=1
∂ 3u ∂ 3u ∂ 3v
s
B11 + (B s
12 + 2B s
66 ) + (B s
12 + 2B s
66 ) where λ = mπ/a and μ = nπ/b, and m and n are modes
∂x3 ∂ x∂ y 2 ∂ x 2∂ y
numbers. For the case of a sinusoidally distributed load, we
∂ 3v s ∂ wb
4 ∂ 4 wb have
+B22
s
− D 11 − 2(D s
12 + 2D s
66 )
∂ y3 ∂x4 ∂ x 2∂ y2
m = n = 1, q11 = q0 , (19)
s ∂ wb s ∂ ws ∂ 4 ws
4 4
−D22 − H11 − 2(H s
12 + 2H s
66 )
∂ y4 ∂x4 ∂ x 2∂ y2 where q0 represents the intensity of the load at the plate
center.
∂ 4 ws ∂ 2 ws ∂ 2 ws Following the Navier solution procedure, we assume the
−H22
s
+ As55 + As44 + q = 0. (16)
∂y 4 ∂x 2 ∂ y2 following form of solution for (u, v, wb , ws ) that satisfies the
boundary conditions
2.4 Analytical solutions for FG plates ⎧ ⎫ ⎧ ⎫
⎪
⎪ u ⎪⎪ ⎪
⎪ Umn cos(λx) sin(μy) ⎪⎪
⎨ ⎬  ∞ ∞ ⎨ ⎬
Rectangular plates are generally classified by referring to the v Vmn sin(λx) cos(μy)
= , (20)
⎪
⎪ w ⎪ ⎪ Wbmn sin(λx) sin(μy) ⎪
type support used. We are here concerned with the analyt- ⎩ b⎪ ⎭ m=1 n=1 ⎪
⎩ ⎪
⎭
ical solutions of Eq. (16) for simply supported FG plates. ws Wsmn sin(λx) sin(μy)
The following boundary conditions are imposed at the side
edges. where Umn , Vmn , Wbmn , and Wsmn are arbitrary parameters
to be determined.
Substituting Eqs. (18)–(20) into Eq. (16) we obtain
∂wb
v(0, y) = wb (0, y) = ws (0, y) = (0, y)
∂y K  = F, (21)

∂ws where  and F denotes the columns

= (0, y) = 0, (17a)
∂y
T = {Umn , Vmn , Wbmn , Wsmn },
∂wb (22)
v(a, y) = wb (a, y) = ws (a, y) = (a, y)
∂y F T = {0, 0, −qmn , −qmn }.
∂ws
= (a, y) = 0, (17b) and
∂y ⎡ ⎤
a11 a12 a13 a14
N x (0, y) = Mxb (0, y) = Mxs (0, y) = N x (a, y) ⎢ a12 a22 a23 a24 ⎥
K =⎢
⎣ a13
⎥, (23)
a23 a33 a34 ⎦
= Mxb (a, y) = Mxs (a, y) = 0, (17c)
a14 a24 a34 a44

123
946 I. Mechab et al.
   
in which h a b h h h
σ̄ y = σy , , , τ̄x y = τx y 0, 0, − ,
aq0 2 2 3 aq0 3
a11 = A11 λ2 + A66 μ2 ,    
h a h h b
a12 = λμ(A12 + A66 ), τ̄ yz = τ yz , 0, , τ̄x z = τx z 0, , 0 ,
  aq0 2 6 aq0 2
a13 = −λ B11 λ2 + (B12 + 2B66 )μ2 , z
z̄ = .
  h
a14 = −λ B11 λ + (B12
s 2 s
+ 2B66
s
)μ2 ,
As the first example, the deflections and the dimension-
a22 = A66 λ2 + A22 μ2 ,
  (24) less stresses of the square FG plate (a/ h = 10) for differ-
a23 = −μ (B12 + 2B66 )λ2 + B22 μ2 , ent values of the power law p are obtained using the present
  refined theory (RPT) and using the sinusoidal shear deforma-
a24 = −μ (B12 s
+ 2B66s
)λ2 + B22
s 2
μ , tion plate theory (SSDPT) [24], and the results are compared
and given in Table 1.
a33 = D11 λ4 + 2(D12 + 2D66 )λ2 μ2 + D22 μ4 ,
 s  2 2 Table 2 presents the central deflections and the transverse
a34 = D11
s 4
λ + 2 D12 + 2D66
s
λ μ + D22s
μ4 , shear stress of the square simply supported FG plate. The
 
a44 = H11
s 4
λ + 2 H11s
+ 2H66
s
λ2 μ2 + H22
s 4
μ results are compared with those of 2D higher order theory
+As55 λ2 + As44 μ2 . of Matsunaga [25], and it can be seen that both results are in
close agreement.
It can also be seen that the effect of the volume fraction
exponent on the dimensionless stresses and displacements
3 Numerical results
of an FGM square plate is demonstrated in the results pre-
sented in Tables 1 and 2. As the plate becomes more and
In this section, the present refined theory is applied to the
more metallic, the difference increases for deflection w̄ and
bending analysis of FG plates. The Poisson’s ratio is fixed at
in-plane longitudinal stress σ̄x while it decreases for in-plane
ν = 0.3, and comparisons are made with available solutions.
normal stress σ̄ y . It is important to observe that the stresses
Numerical case studies are used to verify the accuracy of the
for a fully ceramic plate are the same as that for a fully metal
present analysis. The material properties adopted here are
plate. This is because the plate in these two cases is fully
Metal (Aluminium, Al) : E m = 70 × 109 N/m2 ; ν =
homogeneous and the stresses do not depend on the modulus
0.3; ρm = 2 702 kg/m3 .
of elasticity.
Ceramic (Alumina, Al2 O3 ) : E c = 380 × 109 N/m2 ; ν =
Figures 3 and 4 show the variation of the center deflection
0.3; ρc = 3 800 kg/m3 .
for various power law exponent “ p” and with different aspect
The various non-dimensional parameters used are
and side-to-thickness ratios, respectively. The FGM plate
   
10h 3 E c a b h a b h deflection is between those of plate made of ceramic (Al2 O3 )
W̄ = W , , σ̄ x = σ x , , , and metal (Al). It can be observed that the deflection of metal
a 4 q0 2 2 aq0 2 2 2

Table 1 Comparison of the dimensionless deflections and stresses in a square FG-plate subjected to sinusoidally distributed load

p W̄ σ̄x σ̄ y τ̄ yz τ̄x z τ̄x y

SSDPT Present SSDPT Present SSDPT Present SSDPT Present SSDPT Present SSDPT Present

Ceramic 0.296 0 0.296 1 1.995 5 1.994 3 1.312 1 1.312 4 0.213 2 0.212 1 0.246 2 0.238 6 0.706 5 0.706 7
1 0.588 9 0.589 0 3.087 0 3.085 0 1.489 4 1.489 8 0.262 2 0.260 8 0.246 2 0.238 6 0.611 0 0.611 1
2 0.757 3 0.757 3 3.609 4 3.606 7 1.395 4 1.396 0 0.276 3 0.273 7 0.226 5 0.218 6 0.544 1 0.544 2
3 0.837 7 0.837 5 3.874 2 3.870 9 1.274 8 1.275 6 0.271 5 0.267 7 0.210 7 0.202 4 0.552 5 0.552 6
4 0.881 9 0.881 6 4.069 3 4.065 5 1.178 3 1.179 4 0.258 0 0.253 7 0.202 9 0.194 4 0.566 7 0.566 9
5 0.911 8 0.911 2 4.248 8 4.244 7 1.102 9 1.104 1 0.242 9 0.238 5 0.201 7 0.193 0 0.575 5 0.575 7
6 0.935 6 0.935 2 4.424 4 4.420 1 1.041 7 1.042 8 0.229 6 0.225 5 0.204 1 0.195 4 0.580 3 0.580 6
7 0.956 2 0.955 7 4.597 1 4.592 8 0.990 3 0.991 5 0.219 4 0.215 7 0.208 1 0.199 4 0.583 4 0.583 6
8 0.975 0 0.974 3 4.766 1 4.761 9 0.946 6 0.947 7 0.212 1 0.208 8 0.212 4 0.203 7 0.585 6 0.585 8
9 0.992 5 0.992 2 4.930 3 4.926 1 0.909 2 0.910 3 0.207 2 0.204 2 0.216 4 0.207 8 0.587 5 0.587 8
10 1.008 9 1.008 5 5.089 0 5.084 9 0.877 5 0.878 5 0.204 1 0.201 4 0.219 8 0.211 4 0.589 4 0.589 6
Metal 1.607 0 1.607 4 1.995 5 1.994 3 1.312 1 1.312 4 0.213 2 0.212 1 0.246 2 0.238 6 0.706 5 0.706 7

123
A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis 947

Table 2 Comparison of the W E c /q0 h τx z (0, b/2)/q0

dimensionless deflections and
transverse shear stresses in a a/ h p Matsunaga [25] Present Matsunaga [25] Present
square FG-plate subjected to
sinusoidally distributed load 5 0 0.209 8 0.214 6 0.118 6 0.119 0
0.5 0.317 9 0.323 5 0.120 9 0.121 7
1 0.413 9 0.418 0 0.118 4 0.119 0
4 0.651 1 0.650 6 0.107 6 0.096 9
10 0.762 4 0.767 2 0.107 8 0.105 3
10 0 0.294 3 0.296 1 0.238 3 0.238 5
0.5 0.450 4 0.453 7 0.243 1 0.243 9
1 0.587 5 0.589 0 0.238 3 0.238 5
4 0.882 3 0.881 6 0.217 5 0.194 3
10 0.100 7 1.008 5 0.216 7 0.211 3

Fig. 3 Dimensionless center deflection (W̄ ) as a function of the aspect Fig. 5 Variation of transversal shear stress (τ̄x z ) across-the-thickness
ratio (a/b) of an FGM plate of an FGM plate for different aspect ratios

Fig. 4 Dimensionless center deflection (W̄ ) as a function of the side-

to-thickness ratio (a/ h) of an FGM square plate Fig. 6 Variation of transversal shear stress (τ̄ yz ) across-the-thickness
of an FGM plate for different aspect ratios

rich plates is larger when compared to ceramic rich FGM

plates, which can be attributed to the fact that the Young’s
modulus of ceramic (Al2 O3 ; 380 GPa) is higher than that of
metal (Al; 70 GPa). Hence for FGM beams, the transverse
deflection decreases as the power law exponent p decreases.
In addition, the deflection of the FGM plate decreases as the
aspect ratio increases, whereas it may be unchanged as the
side-to-thickness ratio increases.
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 depict the across-the-thickness
distributions of the shear stresses τ̄x z and τ̄ yz ; the in-
plane longitudinal and normal stresses σ̄x and σ y , and the

123
948
Fig. 7 Variation of in-plane longitudinal stress (σ̄x ) across-the-
thickness of an FGM plate for different side-to-thickness ratios
Fig. 8 Variation of in-plane normal stress (σ̄ y ) across-the-thickness of
an FGM plate for different aspect ratios
Fig. 9 Variation of longitudinal shear stress (τ̄x y ) across-the-thickness
of an FGM plate for different aspect ratios
longitudinal tangential stress τ̄x y in the FGM plate under the
sinusoidal load, where the volume fraction exponent of the
FGM plate is taken as p = 2. Distinction between the curves
in Figs. 5 and 6 is obvious, from which it is observed that
the across-the-thickness distributions of the shear stresses
τ̄x z and τ̄ yz are not parabolic, and the stresses increase as the
123
I. Mechab et al.
Fig. 10 The effect of material anisotropy on the dimensionless maxi-
mum deflection (W̄ ) of an FGM plate for different values of p
aspect ratio decreases. It is to be noted that the maximum
value occurs at z̄ ∼= 0.2, rather than at the plate center as in
the homogeneous case.
As exhibited in Figs. 7 and 8, the in-plane longitudinal
and normal stresses, σ̄x and σ̄ y , are compressive throughout
the plate up to z̄ = 0.153, and become tensile afterwards. The
maximum compressive stresses occur at certain point on the
bottom surface and the maximum tensile stresses occur, of
course, at certain point on the top surface of the FGM plate.
However, the tensile and compressive values of the longitu-
dinal tangential stress, τ̄x y (Fig. 9), reach maximum at cer-
tain point on the bottom and top surfaces of the FGM plate,
respectively. It is clear that the minimum value of zero for
all the in-plane stresses σ̄x , σ̄ y and τ̄x y occurs at z̄ = 0.153
irrespective of the aspect and side-to-thickness ratios.
Finally, the exact maximum deflections of the simply sup-
ported FGM square plate are compared in Fig. 10 for various
ratios of moduli, E m /E c (for a given thickness, a/ h = 10).
In other words, the deflections are computed and compared
for plates with different ceramic-metal mixtures. It is clear
that the deflections decrease smoothly as the volume fraction
exponent decreases, and decrease as the ratio of metal-to-
ceramic moduli increases.
4 Conclusion
A two variable refined theory is developed for function-
ally graded plates. The theory gives parabolic distribution of
transverse shear strains, and satisfies the zero traction bound-
ary conditions on the plate’s surfaces without using shear
correction factors. The stress and displacement responses of
plates have been analyzed for sinusoidally distributed load.
The gradation of properties across the thickness is assumed to
be of the power law type, and non-dimensional stresses and
displacements are computed for plates with ceramic-metal
mixture. The accuracy and efficiency of the present theory
A two variable refined plate theory for the bending analysis
has been demonstrated for static behaviors of simply sup-
ported FGM plates. The governing equations have, in many
respects, strong similarity to the CPT. All comparative stud-
ies demonstrated that the deflections and stresses obtained
by using the present refined theory (with four unknowns)
and using HSDT (five unknowns) are almost identical, and
it can thus be said that the proposed theory is accurate and
simple in the bending analysis of FG plates. It was observed
that the deflections are larger for metal rich plates when com-
pared to ceramic rich plates, and the deflection increases as
the power law index increases. In conclusion, it can be said
that the gradients in material properties play an important
role in determining the response of FGM plates, and the pro-
posed theory RPT is accurate and simple in analyzing the
static bending behaviors of FGM plates.
References
1. Zhang, J.W., Shen, H.S.: Postbuckling of orthotropic rectangular
plates in biaxial compression. J. Eng. Mech. (ASCE) 117, 1158–
1170 (1991)
2. Zhang, J.: Investigation to the buckling and postbuckling behav-
ior of shear-flexible plates of composite construction. Acta Mech.
Sin. 26, 176–182 (in Chinese) (1994)
3. Shen, H.: Buckling and postbuckling of moderately thick
plates. Appl. Math. Mech. 11, 367–376 (in Chinese) (1990)
4. Reissner, E.: The effect of transverse shear deformation on the
bending of elastic plates. Trans. ASME J. Appl. Mech. 12, 69–
77 (1945)
5. Mindlin, R.D.: Influence of rotary inertia and shear on flex-
ural motions of isotropic, elastic plates. Trans. ASME J. Appl.
Mech. 18, 31–38 (1951)
6. Librescu, L.: On the theory of anisotropic elastic shells and
plates. Int. J. Solids Struct. 3, 53–68 (1967)
7. Levinson, M.: An accurate simple theory of the static and dynamics
of elastic plates. Mech. Res. Commun. 7, 343–350 (1980)
8. Bhimaraddi, A., Stevens, L.K.: A higher order theory for free
vibration of orthotropic, homogeneous and laminated rectangular
plates. Trans. ASME J. Appl. Mech. 51, 195–198 (1984)
View publication stats
949
9. Reddy, J.N.: A simple higher-order theory for laminated composite
plates. Trans. ASME J. Appl. Mech. 51, 745–752 (1984)
10. Ren, J.G.: A new theory of laminated plate. Compos. Sci. Tech-
nol. 26, 225–239 (1986)
11. Kant, T., Pandya, B.N.: A simple finite element formulation of
a higher-order theory for unsymmetrically laminated composite
plates. Compos. Struct. 9, 215–264 (1988)
12. Mohan, P.R., Naganarayana, B.P., Prathap, G.: Consistent and var-
iationally correct finite elements for higher-order laminated plate
theory. Compos. Struct. 29, 445–456 (1994)
13. Noor, A.K., Burton, W.S.: Assessment of shear deformation theo-
ries for multilayered composite plates. Appl. Mech. Rev. 42, 1–13
(1989)
14. Reddy, J.N.: A review of refined theories of laminated composite
plates. Shock Vib. Dig. 22, 3–17 (1990)
15. Reddy, J.N.: An evaluation of equivalent-single-layer and layer-
wise theories of composite laminates. Compos. Struct. 25, 21–35
(1993)
16. Mallikarjuna, M., Kant, T.: A critical review and some results of
recently developed refined theories of fiber-reinforced laminated
composites and sandwiches. Compos. Struct. 23, 293–312 (1993)
17. Dahsin, L., Xiaoyu, L.: An overall view of laminate theories
based on displacement hypothesis. J. Compos. Mater. 30, 1539–
1561 (1996)
18. Shimpi, R.P.: Refined plate theory and its variants. AIAA
J. 40, 137–146 (2002)
19. Shimpi, R.P., Patel, H.G.: A two variable refined plate theory
for orthotropic plate analysis. Int. J. Solids Struct. 43, 6783–
6799 (2006)
20. Shimpi, R.P., Patel, H.G.: Free vibrations of plate using two vari-
able refined plate theory. J. Sound Vib. 296, 979–999 (2006)
21. Kim, S.E., Thai, H.T., Lee, J.: A two variable refined plate theory for
laminated composite plates. Compos. Struct. 89, 197–205 (2009)
22. Praveen, G.N., Reddy, J.N.: Nonlinear transient thermoelastic anal-
ysis of functionally graded ceramic–metal plates. Int. J. Solids
Struct. 35, 4457–4476 (1998)
23. Najafizadeh, M.M., Eslami, M.R.: Buckling analysis of circular
plates of functionally graded materials under uniform radial com-
pression. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 44, 2479–2493 (2002)
24. Touratier, M.: An efficient standard plate theory. Int. J. Eng.
Sci. 29, 901–916 (1991)
25. Matsunaga, H.: Stress analysis of functionally graded plates
subjected to thermal and mechanical loadings. Compos.
Struct. 87, 344–357 (2009)
123