Three-dimensional analysis of transient thermal stresses in functionally graded plates

An analytical solution is presented for three-dimensional thermomechanical deformations of a simply supported functionally graded (FG) rectangular plate subjected to time-dependent thermal loads on its top and/or bottom surfaces. Material properties are taken to be analytical functions of the thickness coordinate. The uncoupled quasi-static linear thermoelasticity theory is adopted in which the change in temperature, if any, due to deformations is neglected. A temperature function that identically satisfies thermal boundary conditions at the edges and the Laplace transformation technique are used to reduce equations governing the transient heat conduction to an ordinary differential equation (ODE) in the thickness coordinate which is solved by the power series method. Next, the elasticity problem for the simply supported plate for each instantaneous temperature distribution is analyzed by using displacement functions that identically satisfy boundary conditions at the edges. The resulting coupled ODEs with variable coefficients are also solved by the power series method. The analytical solution is applicable to a plate of arbitrary thickness. Results are given for two-constituent metal-ceramic FG rectangular plates with a power-law through-the-thickness variation of the volume fraction of the constituents. The effective elastic moduli at a point are determined by either the Mori–Tanaka or the self-consistent scheme. The transient temperature, displacements, and thermal stresses at several critical locations are presented for plates subjected to either time-dependent temperature or heat flux prescribed on the top surface. Results are also given for various volume fractions of the two constituents, volume fraction profiles and the two homogenization schemes.