Abstract :
In a two dissimilar materials joint, near the edges of the interface, very high stresses exist
after a homogeneous change of temperature due to the different elastic constants and the different
thermal expansion coefficients. In most cases, stress singularities occur for elastic material behaviour.
To avoid the stress singularities, a continuous transition in the material properties can be introduced.
In a joint with such a functionally graded material (FGM), the finite element method (FEM) is
generally used to calculate the stress distribution. In the middle of a thin joint with a graded material
the stresses can be calculated analytically by using the beam theory or the plate theory. For a thick
joint or in the edge range of a joint no analytical form has been found so far to describe the stresses.
In this paper the Mellin transform method is used to describe analytically the stresses in the edge
range of a joint with a graded material. Four examples will be presented to show the good agreement
between the stresses calculated from FEM and the analytical description in a joint with a graded
material under a thermal loading. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd
