Postbuckling analysis of axially loaded functionally graded cylindrical panels in thermal environments

A postbuckling analysis is presented for a functionally graded cylindrical panel of finite length subjected to axial compression in thermal environments. Material properties are assumed to be temperature dependent, and graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The governing equations of a functionally graded cylindrical panel are based on Reddy s higher order shear deformation shell theory with a von K arm an–Donnell-type of kinematic nonlinearity and including thermal effects. Two cases of the in-plane boundary conditions are considered. The nonlinear prebuckling deformations and initial geometric imperfections of the panel are both taken into account. A boundary layer theory of shell buckling, which includes the effects of nonlinear prebuckling deformations, large deflections in the postbuckling range, and initial geometric imperfections of the shell, is extended to the case of functionally graded cylindrical panels under axial compression. A singular perturbation technique is employed to determine the buckling loads and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the postbuckling behavior of axially loaded, perfect and imperfect, functional graded cylindrical panels with two constituent materials and under different sets of thermal environments. The influences played by temperature rise, volume fraction distributions, the character of in-plane boundary conditions, transverse shear deformation, panel geometric parameters, as well as initial geometric imperfections are studied