• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.633-642
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• 2019

In this work, lightweight sandwich plates consisting of a functionally graded porous (FGP) core and two laminated composite face sheets resting on elastic foundation have been proposed. Three different profiles are considered for the distributions of porosities along core thickness. The main aim of this paper is the investigation of the buckling behavior of the proposed porous sandwich plates (PSPs) by reporting their critical mechanical loads and their corresponding mode shapes. A finite element method (FEM) based on first order shear deformation theories (FSDT) is developed to discretize governing equations for the buckling behavior of the proposed sandwich plates. The effects of porosity dispersion and volume, the numbers and angles of laminated layers, sandwich plate geometrical dimensions, elastic foundation coefficients, loading and boundary conditions are studied. The results show that the use of FGP core can offer a PSP with half weight core and only 5% reduction in critical buckling loads. Moreover, stacking sequences with only ${\pm}45$ orientation fibers offer the highest values of buckling loads.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.191-206
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• 2023

The present research investigates how micromechanical models affect the behavior of Functionally Graded (FG) plates under different boundary conditions. The study employs diverse micromechanical models to assess the effective material properties of a two-phase particle composite featuring a volume fraction of particles that continuously varies throughout the thickness of the plate. Specifically, the research examines the vibrational response of the plate on a Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundation, considering different boundary conditions. To achieve this, the governing differential equations and boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton's principle, which is based on a four-variable shear deformation refined plate theory. Additionally, the Galerkin method is utilized to compute the plate's natural frequencies. The study explores how the plate's natural frequencies are influenced by various micromechanical models, such as Voigt, Reuss, Hashin-Shtrikman bounds, and Tamura, as well as factors such as boundary conditions, elastic foundation parameters, length-to-thickness ratio, and aspect ratio. The research results can provide valuable insights for future analyses of FG plates with different boundaries, utilizing different micromechanical models.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.623-649
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• 2016

Most of the early studies on plates vibration are focused on two-dimensional theories, these theories reduce the dimensions of problems from three to two by introducing some assumptions in mathematical modeling leading to simpler expressions and derivation of solutions. However, these simplifications inherently bring errors and therefore may lead to unreliable results for relatively thick plates. The main objective of this research paper is to present 3-D elasticity solution for free vibration analysis of continuously graded carbon nanotube-reinforced (CGCNTR) rectangular plates resting on two-parameter elastic foundations. The volume fractions of oriented, straight single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are assumed to be graded in the thickness direction. In this study, an equivalent continuum model based on the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach is employed to estimate the effective constitutive law of the elastic isotropic medium (matrix) with oriented, straight carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The proposed rectangular plates have two opposite edges simply supported, while all possible combinations of free, simply supported and clamped boundary conditions are applied to the other two edges. The formulations are based on the three-dimensional elasticity theory. A semi-analytical approach composed of differential quadrature method (DQM) and series solution is adopted to solve the equations of motion. The fast rate of convergence of the method is demonstrated and comparison studies are carried out to establish its very high accuracy and versatility. The 2-D differential quadrature method as an efficient and accurate numerical tool is used to discretize the governing equations and to implement the boundary conditions. The convergence of the method is demonstrated and to validate the results, comparisons are made between the present results and results reported by well-known references for special cases treated before, have confirmed accuracy and efficiency of the present approach. The novelty of the present work is to exploit Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach in order to reveal the impacts of the volume fractions of oriented CNTs, different CNTs distributions, various coefficients of foundation and different combinations of free, simply supported and clamped boundary conditions on the vibrational characteristics of CGCNTR rectangular plates. The new results can be used as benchmark solutions for future researches.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.601-614
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• 2017

In this work, free vibration analysis of size-dependent functionally graded (FG) nanoplates resting on two-parameter elastic foundation is investigated based on a novel nonlocal refined trigonometric shear deformation theory for the first time. This theory includes undetermined integral variables and contains only four unknowns, with is even less than the conventional first shear deformation theory (FSDT). Mori-Tanaka model is employed to describe gradually distribution of material properties along the plate thickness. Size-dependency of nanosize FG plate is captured via the nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen. By implementing Hamilton's principle the equations of motion are obtained for a refined four-variable shear deformation plate theory and then solved analytically. To show the accuracy of the present theory, our research results in specific cases are compared with available results in the literature and a good agreement will be demonstrated. Finally, the influence of various parameters such as nonlocal parameter, power law indexes, elastic foundation parameters, aspect ratio, and the thickness ratio on the non-dimensional frequency of rectangular FG nanoscale plates are presented and discussed in detail.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.4
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• pp.491-504
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• 2018

Because of sandwich structures with low weight and high stiffness have much usage in various industries such as civil and aerospace engineering, in this article, buckling and free vibration analyses of coupled micro composite sandwich plates are investigated based on sinusoidal shear deformation (SSDT) and most general strain gradient theories (MGSGT). It is assumed that the sandwich structure rested on an orthotropic elastic foundation and make of four composite face sheets with temperature-dependent material properties that they reinforced by carbon and boron nitride nanotubes and two flexible transversely orthotropic cores. Mathematical formulation is presented using Hamilton's principle and governing equations of motions are derived based on energy approach and applying variation method for simply supported edges under electro-magneto-thermo-mechanical, axial buckling and pre-stresses loadings. In order to predict the effects of various parameters such as material length scale parameter, length to width ratio, length to thickness ratio, thickness of face sheets to core thickness ratio, nanotubes volume fraction, pre-stress load and orthotropic elastic medium on the natural frequencies and critical buckling load of double-bonded micro composite sandwich plates. It is found that orthotropic elastic medium has a special role on the system stability and increasing Winkler and Pasternak constants lead to enhance the natural frequency and critical buckling load of micro plates, while decrease natural frequency and critical buckling load with increasing temperature changes. Also, it is showed that pre-stresses due to help the axial buckling load causes that delay the buckling phenomenon. Moreover, it is concluded that the sandwich structures with orthotropic cores have high stiffness, but because they are not economical, thus it is necessary the sandwich plates reinforce by carbon or boron nitride nanotubes specially, because these nanotubes have important thermal and mechanical properties in comparison of the other reinforcement.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.551-568
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• 2023

In this research, a new two-dimensional (2D) and quasi three-dimensional (quasi-3D) higher order shear deformation theory is devised to address the bending problem of functionally graded plates resting on an elastic foundation. The displacement field of the suggested theories takes into account a parabolic transverse shear deformation shape function and satisfies shear stress free boundary conditions on the plate surfaces. It is expressed as a combination of trigonometric and exponential shear shape functions. The Pasternak mathematical model is considered for the elastic foundation. The material properties vary constantly across the FG plate thickness using different distributions as power-law, exponential and Mori-Tanaka model. By using the virtual works principle and Navier's technique, the governing equations of FG plates exposed to sinusoidal and evenly distributed loads are developed. The effects of material composition, geometrical parameters, stretching effect and foundation parameters on deflection, axial displacements and stresses are discussed in detail in this work. The obtained results are compared with those reported in earlier works to show the precision and simplicity of the current formulations. A very good agreement is found between the predicted results and the available solutions of other higher order theories. Future mechanical analyses of three-dimensionally FG plate structures can use the study's findings as benchmarks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.5
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• pp.665-676
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• 2018

In this study, a four-node quadrilateral partial mixed plate element with low degrees of freedom (dofs) is developed for static and free vibration analysis of functionally graded material (FGM) plates rested on Winkler-Pasternak elastic foundations. The formulation of the presented finite element model is based on a parametrized mixed variational principle which is developed recently by the first author. The presented finite element model considers the effects of shear deformations and normal flexibility of the FGM plates without using any shear correction factor. It also fulfills the boundary conditions of the transverse shear and normal stresses on the top and bottom surfaces of the plate. Beside these capabilities, the number of unknown field variables of the plate is only six. The presented partial mixed finite element model has been validated through comparison with the results of the three-dimensional (3D) theory of elasticity and the results obtained from the classical and high-order plate theories available in the open literature.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.200-210
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• 1997

This paper presents the result of analysis of special orthotropic plates supported by elastic foundation and simple supported edges. Convergence and accuracy of the solution are examined and it is verified that the solution obtained is sufficiently accurate. The effect of the spring constant, k, on deflection is studied.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.357-371
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• 2022

This paper presents a parametric study on the free vibration analysis of a functionally graded material (FGM) circular plate with non-uniform thickness resting on a variable Pasternak elastic foundation. The mechanical properties of the material vary in the transverse direction through the thickness of the plate according to the power-law distribution to represent the constituent components. The equation of motion of the circular plate has been carried out based on the classical plate theory (CPT), and the differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to solve the governing equations as a semi-analytical method. The grid points are chosen based on Chebyshev-Gauss-Lobatto distribution to achieve acceptable convergence and better accuracy. The influence of geometric parameters, variable elastic foundation, and functionally graded variation for clamped and simply supported boundary conditions on the first three natural frequencies are investigated. Comparisons of results with similar studies in the literature have been presented and two-dimensional mode shapes for particular plates have been plotted to illustrate the effect of variable thickness profile.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.619-637
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• 2005

The objective of this research was to determine the Vlasov soil parameters for quadratically varying elasticity modulus $E_s$(z) of the compressible soil continuum and discuss the interaction affect between two close plates. Interaction problem carried on for uniformly distributed load carrying plates. Plate region was simulated by Kirchhoff plate theory based (mixed or displacement type) 2D elements and the foundation continuum was simulated by displacement type 2D elements. At the contact region, plate and foundation elements were geometrically coupled with each other. In this study the necessary formulas for the Vlasov parameters were derived when Young's modulus of the soil continuum was varying as a quadratic function of z-coordinate through the depth of the foundation. In the examples, first the elements and the iterative FE algorithm was verified and later the results of quadratic variation of $E_s$(z) were compared with the previous examples in order to discuss the general behavior. As a final example two plates close to each other resting on elastic foundation were handled to see their interaction influences on the Vlasov foundation parameters. Original examples were solved using both mixed and displacement type plate elements in order to confirm the results.