• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2023

The use of functionally graded materials in applications involving severe thermal gradients is quickly gaining acceptance in the composite mechanics community, the aerospace and aircraft industry. In the present study, a refined sandwich plate model is applied to study the free vibration analysis of porous functionally graded material (FGM) sandwich plates with various distribution rate of porosity. Two types of common FG sandwich plates are considered. The first sandwich plate is composed of two FG material (FGM) face sheets and a homogeneous ceramic or metal core. The second one consists of two homogeneous fully metal and ceramic face sheets at the top and bottom, respectively, and a FGM core. The displacement field of the present theory is chosen based on nonlinear variations in the in-plane displacements through the thickness of the sandwich plate. The number of unknowns and equations of motion of the present theory is reduced and hence makes them simple to use. In the analysis, the equation of motion for simply supported sandwich plates is obtained using Hamilton's principle. In order to present the effect of the variation of the porosity distribution on the dynamic behavior of the FGM sandwich plates, new mixtures are proposed which take into account different rate of porosity distribution between the ceramic and the metal. The present method is applicable to study the dynamic behavior of FGM plates and sandwich plates. The frequencies of two kinds of FGM sandwich structures are analyzed and discussed. Several numerical results have been compared with the ones available in the literature.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.457-469
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• 2019

In this paper, a numerical solution is presented for supersonic flutter analysis of cantilever non-symmetric functionally graded (FG) sandwich plates. The plate is considered to be composed of two different functionally graded face sheets and an isotropic homogeneous core made of ceramic. Based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and linear piston theory, the set of governing equations and boundary conditions are derived. Dimensionless form of the governing equations and boundary conditions are derived and solved numerically using generalized differential quadrature method (GDQM) and critical velocity and flutter frequencies are calculated. For various values of the yaw angle, effect of different parameters like aspect ratio, thickness of the plate, power law indices and thickness of the core on the flutter boundaries are investigated. Numerical examples show that wings and tail fins with larger length and shorter width are more stable in supersonic flights. It is concluded for FG sandwich plates made of Al-Al₂O₃ that increase in volume fraction of ceramic (Al₂O₃) increases aeroelastic stability of the plate. Presented study confirms that improvement of aeroelastic behavior and weight of wings and tail fins of aircrafts are not consistent items. It is shown that value of the critical yaw angle depends on aspect ratio of the plate and other parameters including thickness and variation of properties have no considerable effect on it. Results of this paper can be used in design and analysis of wing and tail fin of supersonic airplanes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.91-112
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• 2016

In this paper, post-buckling behavior of sandwich plates with functionally graded (FG) face sheets under uniform temperature rise loading is examined based on both sinusoidal shear deformation theory and stress function. It is supposed that the sandwich plate is in contact with an elastic foundation during deformation, which acts in both compression and tension. Thermo-elastic non-homogeneous properties of FG layers change smoothly by the variation of power law within the thickness, and temperature dependency of material constituents is considered in the formulation. In the present development, Von Karman nonlinearity and initial geometrical imperfection of sandwich plate are also taken into account. By employing Galerkin method, analytical solutions of thermal buckling and post-buckling equilibrium paths for simply supported plates are determined. Numerical examples presented in the present study discuss the effects of gradient index, sandwich plate geometry, geometrical imperfection, temperature dependency, and the elastic foundation parameters.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.263-277
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• 2023

Free vibration analysis of multi-directional porous functionally graded (FG) sandwich plate has been performed for two cases namely: FG skin with homogeneous core and FG core with homogeneous skin. Hamilton's principle was employed and the solution was obtained using Navier's technique. This theory imposes traction-free boundary conditions on the surfaces and does not require shear correction factors. The results obtained are validated with those available in the literature. The composition of metal-ceramic-based functionally graded material (FGM) changes in longitudinal and transverse directions according to the power law. Imperfections in the functionally graded material introduced during the fabrication process were modeled with different porosity laws such as evenly, unevenly distributed, and logarithmic uneven distributions. The effect of porosity laws and geometry parameters on the natural frequency was investigated. On comparing the natural frequency of two cases for perfect and imperfect sandwich plates a reverse trend in natural frequency result was seen. The finding shows a multidirectional functionally graded structures perform better compared to uni-directional gradation. Hence, critical grading parameters and imperfection types have been identified which will guide experimentalists and researchers in selecting fabrication routes for improving the performance of such structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.233-246
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• 2023

Bending and buckling analysis of multi-directional porous functionally graded sandwich plate has been performed for two cases namely: FG skin with homogeneous core and FG core with homogeneous skin. The principle of virtual displacements was employed and the solution was obtained using Navier's technique. This theory imposes traction-free boundary conditions on the surfaces and does not require shear correction factors. The validation of the present study has been performed with those available in the literature. The composition of metal-ceramic-based FGM changes in longitudinal and transverse directions according to the power law. Different porosity laws, such as uniform distribution, unevenly and logarithmically uneven distributions were used to mimic the imperfections in the functionally graded material that were introduced during the fabrication process. Several sandwich plates schemes were studied based on the plate's symmetry and the thickness of each layer. The effects of grading parameters and porosity laws on the bending and buckling of sandwich plates were examined.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.659-670
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• 2020

This paper proposes the use of a porous core between layers of laminated composite plates to examine its effect on the natural frequencies of the resulted porous laminated composite sandwich plate (PLCSP) resting on a two-parameter elastic foundation. Moreover, it has been suggested that the dispersion of porosity has two different functionally graded (FG) patterns which are compared with a uniformly dispersed (UD) profile to find their best vibrational efficiency in the proposed PLCSPs. In FG patterns, two types of dispersions, including symmetric (FG-S) and asymmetric (FG-A) patterns have been considered. To derive the governing Eigen value equation of such structures, the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) of plates has been employed. Accordingly, a finite element method (FEM) is developed to solve the derived Eigen value equation. Using the mentioned theory and method, the effects of porosity parameters, fiber orientation of laminated composite, geometrical dimensions, boundary conditions and elastic foundation on the natural frequencies of the proposed PLCSPs have been studied. It is observed that embedding porosity in core layer leads to a significant improvement in the natural frequencies of PLCSPs. Moreover, the natural frequencies of PLCSPs with FG porous core are higher than those with UD porous core.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.5
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• pp.555-563
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• 2020

The objective of present paper is assessment of dynamic buckling behavior of an embedded sandwich microplates in thermal environment in which the layers are reinforced through functionally graded carbon nanotubes (FG-CNTs). Therefore, mixture rule is taken into consideration for obtaining effective material characteristics. In order to model this structure much more realistic, Kelvin-Voigt model is presumed and the sandwich structure is rested on visco-Pasternak medium. Exponential shear deformation theory (ESDT) in addition to Eringen's nonlocal theory are utilized to obtain motion equations. Further, differential cubature method (DCM) as well as Bolotin's procedure are used to solve governing equations and achieve dynamic instability region (DIR) related to sandwich structure. Different parameters focusing on volume percent of CNTs, dispersion kinds of CNTs, thermal environment, small scale effect and structural damping and their influences upon the dynamic behavior of sandwich structure are investigated. So as to indicate the accuracy of applied theories as well as methods, the results are collated with another paper. According to results, presence of CNTs and their dispersion kind can alter system's dynamic response as well.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2024

Functionally graded-carbon nanotube (FG-CNT) is expected to be a new generation of materials with a wide range of potential applications in technological fields such as aerospace, defense, energy, and structural industries. In this paper, an exact finite strip method for functionally graded-carbon nanotube sandwich plates is developed using first-order shear deformation theory to get the exact natural frequencies of the plates. The face sheets of the plates are made of FG-CNT with continuous and smooth grading based on the power law index. The equations of motion have been generated based on the Hamilton principle. By extracting the exact stiffness matrix for any strip of the sandwich plate as a non-algebraic function of natural frequencies, it is possible to calculate the exact free vibration frequencies. The accuracy and efficiency of the current method is established by comparing its findings to the results of the literature works. Examples are presented to prove the efficiency of the generated method to deal with various problems, such as the influence of the length-to-height ratio, the power law index, and a core-to-face sheet thickness of the single and multi-span sandwich plates with various boundary conditions on the natural frequencies. The exact results obtained from this analysis can check the validity and accuracy of other numerical methods.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.213-226
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• 2020

The present study covenants with the static and free vibration behavior of nanocomposite sandwich plates reinforced by carbon nanotubes resting on Pasternak elastic foundation. Uniformly distributed (UD-CNT) and functionally graded (FG-CNT) distributions of aligned carbon nanotube are considered for two types of sandwich plates such as, the face sheet reinforced and homogeneous core and the homogeneous face sheet and reinforced core. Based on the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the Hamilton's principle is employed to derive the mathematical models. The obtained solutions are numerically validated by comparison with some available cases in the literature. The elastic foundation model is assumed as one parameter Winkler - Pasternak foundation. A parametric study is conducted to study the effects of aspect ratios, foundation parameters, carbon nanotube volume fraction, types of reinforcement, core-to-face sheet thickness ratio and types of loads acting on the bending and free vibration analyses. It is explicitly shown that the (FG-CNT) face sheet reinforced sandwich plate has a high resistance against deflections compared to other types of reinforcement. It is also revealed that the reduction in the dimensionless natural frequency is most pronounced in core reinforced sandwich plate.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.273-287
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• 2018

Buckling and free vibration analysis of sandwich micro plate (SMP) integrated with piezoelectric layers embedded in orthotropic Pasternak are investigated in this paper. The refined Zigzag theory (RZT) is taken into consideration to model the SMP. Four different types of functionally graded (FG) distribution through the thickness of the SMP core layer which is reinforced with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are considered. The modified couple stress theory (MCST) is employed to capture the effects of small scale effects. The sandwich structure is exposed to a two dimensional magnetic field and also, piezoelectric layers are subjected to external applied voltages. In order to obtain governing equation, energy method as well as Hamilton's principle is applied. Based on an analytical solution the critical buckling loads and natural frequency are obtained. The effects of volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), different distributions of CNTs, foundation stiffness parameters, magnetic and electric fields, small scale parameter and the thickness of piezoelectric layers on the both critical buckling loads and natural frequency of the SMP are examined. The obtained results demonstrate that the effects of volume fraction of CNTs play an important role in analyzing buckling and free vibration behavior of the SMP. Furthermore, the effects of magnetic and electric fields are remarkable on the mechanical responses of the system and cannot be neglected.