An exact solution for stresses and displacements of pressurized FGM thick-walled spherical shells with exponential-varying properties

Exact closed-form solutions have been derived for stresses and the displacements in thick spherical shells made of functionally graded materials with exponential-varying properties subjected to internal and external pressure. Poisson's ratio is assumed to be constant. The obtained results show that the inhomogeneity properties of FGMs have a significant influence on the displacement and stresses distribution along the radial direction. A numerical solution using finite element method is also presented and good agreement was found between the analytical solutions and the solutions carried out through the FEM. The values used in this study are arbitrarily chosen to demonstrate the effect of inhomogeneity on displacements and stresses distributions.