Three-dimensional axisymmetric responses of exponentially graded transversely isotropic tri-materials under interfacial loading

In this paper, an analytical formulation is presented to study an exponentially graded transversely isotropic tri-material under applied axisymmetric point-load and patch- load with the aid of Hankel transform and use of a potential function. The given formulation is shown to be reducible to the special cases of (1) an inhomogeneous finite layer on a rigid base; (2) exponentially graded bi-material or half-space under applied buried loads; (3) homogeneous tri-material or bi-material solid. Several numerical solutions are presented to explain inhomogeneity effect on the stress transfer process in the inhomogeneous three- layered medium by means of a fast and accurate numerical method.