Postbuckling analysis of functionally graded plates subject to compressive and thermal loads

Postbuckling analysis of functionally graded ceramic-metal plates under edge compression and temperature field conditions is presented using the element-free kp-Ritz method. The first-order shear deformation plate theory is employed to account for the transverse shear strains, and the von Kármán-type nonlinear strain-displacement relationship is adopted. The effective material properties of the functionally graded plates are assumed to vary through their thickness direction according to the power-law distribution of the volume fractions of the constituents. The displacement fields are approximated in terms of a set of mesh-free kernel particle functions. Bending stiffness is estimated using a stabilised conforming nodal integration approach, and, to eliminate the membrane and shear locking effects for thin plates, the shear and membrane terms are evaluated using a direct nodal integration technique. The solutions are obtained using the arc-length iterative algorithm in combination with the modified Newton-Raphson method. The effects of the volume fraction exponent, boundary conditions and temperature distribution on postbuckling behaviour are examined. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.