Buckling of functionally graded cylindrical shells under combined thermal and compressive loads

This article focuses on analytical solutions for bifurcation buckling of FGM cylindrical shells under thermal and compressive loads. A new solution methodology is established based on Hamilton's principle. The fundamental problem is subsequently transformed into the solutions of symplectic eigenvalues and eigenvectors, respectively. Then, by applying a unidirectional Galerkin method, imperfection sensitivity of an imperfect FGM cylindrical shell is discussed in detail. The solutions reveal that boundary conditions, volume fraction exponent, FGM properties, and temperature rise distribution significantly influence the buckling behavior. Critical stresses are reduced greatly due to the existence of initial geometric imperfections. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.