Thermal postbuckling of functionally graded fiber reinforced composite cylindrical shells surrounded by an elastic medium

Thermal buckling and postbuckling behavior are presented for fiber reinforced composite (FRC) laminated cylindrical shells embedded in a large outer elastic medium and subjected to a uniform temperature rise. The surrounding elastic medium is modeled as a Pasternak foundation. Two kinds of fiber reinforced composite laminated shells, namely, uniformly distributed (UD) and functionally graded (FG) reinforcements, are considered. The governing equations are based on a higher order shear deformation shell theory that includes shell-foundation interaction. The thermal effects are also included, and the material properties of FRC laminated cylindrical shells are estimated through a micromechanical model and are assumed to be temperature dependent. Numerical illustrations are carried out for perfect and imperfect, UD and FG fiber reinforced metal matrix composite laminated cylindrical shells with different values of shell parameters and stacking sequence. The numerical results show that the buckling temperature as well as thermal postbuckling strength of the FRC shells can be increased as a result of functionally graded fiber reinforcements. The results reveal that the thermal postbuckling equilibrium path of the FRC shells with metal matrix may be stable or weakly unstable due to the different values of shell parameter and stacking sequence.