• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.349-360
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• 2010

Three dimensional free vibrations analysis of functionally graded fiber reinforced cylindrical shell is presented, using differential quadrature method (DQM). The cylindrical shell is assumed to have continuous grading of fiber volume fraction in the radial direction. Suitable displacement functions are used to reduce the equilibrium equations to a set of coupled ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, which can be solved by differential quadrature method to obtain natural frequencies. The main contribution of this work is presenting useful results for continuous grading of fiber reinforcement in the thickness direction of a cylindrical shell and comparison with similar discrete laminate composite ones. Results indicate that significant improvement is found in natural frequency of a functionally graded fiber reinforced cylinder due to the reduction in spatial mismatch of material properties and natural frequency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.529-542
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• 2011

Three dimensional solutions for free vibrations analysis of functionally graded fiber reinforced cylindrical panel are presented, using differential quadrature method (DQM). The orthotropic panel is simply supported at the edges and is assumed to have an arbitrary variation of reinforcement volume fraction in the radial direction. Suitable displacement functions that identically satisfy the simply supported boundary condition are used to reduce the equilibrium equations to a set of coupled ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, which can be solved by differential quadrature method to obtain natural frequencies. The main contribution of this work is presenting useful results for continuous grading of fiber reinforcement in the thickness direction of a cylindrical panel and comparison with similar discrete laminate composite ones. Results indicate that significant improvement is found in natural frequency of a functionally graded fiber reinforced composite panel due to the reduction in spatial mismatch of material properties.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.773-796
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• 2014

This paper deals with free vibration analysis of continuous grading fiber reinforced (CGFR) and bi-directional FG annular sector plates on two-parameter elastic foundations under various boundary conditions, based on the three-dimensional theory of elasticity. The plates with simply supported radial edges and arbitrary boundary conditions on their circular edges are considered. A semi-analytical approach composed of differential quadrature method (DQM) and series solution is adopted to solve the equations of motion. Some new results for the natural frequencies of the plate are prepared, which include the effects of elastic coefficients of foundation, boundary conditions, material and geometrical parameters. Results indicate that the non-dimensional natural frequency parameter of a functionally graded fiber volume fraction is larger than that of a discrete laminated and close to that of a 2-layer. It results that the CGFR plate attains natural frequency higher than those of traditional discretely laminated composite ones and this can be a benefit when higher stiffness of the plate is the goal and that is due to the reduction in spatial mismatch of material properties. Moreover, it is shown that a graded ceramic volume fraction in two directions has a higher capability to reduce the natural frequency than conventional one-dimensional functionally graded material. The multidirectional graded material can likely be designed according to the actual requirement and it is a potential alternative to the unidirectional functionally graded material. The new results can be used as benchmark solutions for future researches.