An exact solution for the steady-state thermoelastic response of functionally graded orthotropic cylindrical shells

We analyze the steady-state response of a functionally graded thick cylindrical shell subjected to thermal and mechanical loads. The functionally graded shell is simply supported at the edges and it is assumed to have an arbitrary variation of material properties in the radial direction. The three-dimensional steady-state heat conduction and thermoelasticity equations, simplified to the case of generalized plane strain deformations in the axial direction, are solved analytically. Suitable temperature and displacement functions that identically satisfy the boundary conditions at the simply supported edges are used to reduce the thermoelastic equilibrium equations to a set of coupled ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, which are then solved by the power series method. In the present formulation, the cylindrical shell is assumed to be made of an orthotropic material, although the analytical solution is also valid for isotropic materials. Results are presented for two-constituent isotropic and fiber-reinforced functionally graded shells that have a smooth variation of material volume fractions, and/or in-plane fiber orientations, through the radial direction. The cylindrical shells are also analyzed using the Flu¨gge and the Donnell shell theories. Displacements and stresses from the shell theories are compared with the three-dimensional exact solution to delineate the effects of transverse shear deformation, shell thickness and angular span.